Intentions to Marry, 1902 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840422, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke and Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 and October 8, 2025.

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 038

District of Ahaura Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar Nicholas Tregonning

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

139

16 July 1902

Richard Edward Harris
Annie Elizabeth Hargreaves

Richard Edward Harris
Annie Elizabeth Hargreaves
💍 1902/4131

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Home Duties

28
20

Ahaura
Ahaura

3 days
20 years

Church of England, Ahaura

02/3851

James Hargreaves (Father)

16 July 1902

Rev. A. W. Stace

No	139
Date of Notice	16 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Edward Harris	Annie Elizabeth Hargreaves
	💍 1902/4131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Home Duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ahaura
Folio	02/3851
Consent	James Hargreaves (Father)
Date of Certificate	16 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Stace

140

28 July 1902

Sidney Charles Fache
Bessie Walmsley

Sidney Charles Fache
Bessie Walmsley
💍 1902/4132

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredge Master
Home Duties

24
22

Ahaura
Granville

3 days
3 months

House of Mrs. Walmsley, Granville

02/3852

28 July 1902

Rev. A. W. Stace

No	140
Date of Notice	28 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Charles Fache	Bessie Walmsley
	💍 1902/4132
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredge Master	Home Duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Granville
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Walmsley, Granville
Folio	02/3852
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Stace

141

8 September 1902

John Sidney Williams
Grace Margaret Smith

John Sidney Williams
Grace Margaret Smith
💍 1902/4133

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Home Duties

27
20

Ahaura
Ahaura

18 months
20 years

Church of England, Ahaura

02/3853

Hugh Smith (Father)

8 September 1902

Rev. A. W. Stace

No	141
Date of Notice	8 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sidney Williams	Grace Margaret Smith
	💍 1902/4133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Home Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	18 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ahaura
Folio	02/3853
Consent	Hugh Smith (Father)
Date of Certificate	8 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Stace

142

17 September 1902

Henry John Fox
Minnie Green

Henry John Fox
Minnie Green
💍 1902/4001

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Miner
Home Duties

27
20

Blackball
Blackball

7 months
3 years

Residence of W. John Green, Blackball

02/3855

Elizabeth Green (Mother)

17 September 1902

Rev. A. W. Stace

No	142
Date of Notice	17 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Fox	Minnie Green
	💍 1902/4001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Miner	Home Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	7 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. John Green, Blackball
Folio	02/3855
Consent	Elizabeth Green (Mother)
Date of Certificate	17 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Stace

143

17 September 1902

William Fletcher
Fanny Campbell

William Fletcher
Fanny Campbell
💍 1902/4134

William Renwick
Belle Campbell
💍 1902/6418

Bachelor
Widow

Bushman
Hotel Keeper

26
31

Nelson Creek
Nelson Creek

4 years
5 years

Residence of Mrs. Fanny Campbell, Nelson Creek

02/3854

17 September 1902

Rev. A. W. Stace

No	143
Date of Notice	17 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fletcher	Fanny Campbell
	💍 1902/4134
BDM Match (60%)	William Renwick	Belle Campbell
	💍 1902/6418
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bushman	Hotel Keeper
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek	Nelson Creek
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Fanny Campbell, Nelson Creek
Folio	02/3854
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Stace

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).