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 254

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar F. W. Newsfield

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

3 January 1902

Frank Nelson
Margaret Jane McKarnen

Frank Melson
Margaret Jane McKarnen
💍 1902/845

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

33
19

Woolston
Christchurch

2 months
17 years

Roman Catholic pro Cathedral

02/1054

Patrick McKarnen, Father

3 January 1902

Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Nelson	Margaret Jane McKarnen
BDM Match (96%)	Frank Melson	Margaret Jane McKarnen
	💍 1902/845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic pro Cathedral
Folio	02/1054
Consent	Patrick McKarnen, Father
Date of Certificate	3 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

3 January 1902

Arthur Reid
Marie Curtin

Arthur Reid
Marie Curtin
💍 1902/846

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Labeller

26
27

Christchurch
Sydenham

26 years
18 years

R. C. pro Cathedral

02/1055

3 January 1902

Rev. L. H. des Chesnais

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Reid	Marie Curtin
	💍 1902/846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Labeller
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	26 years	18 years
Marriage Place	R. C. pro Cathedral
Folio	02/1055
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. H. des Chesnais

4 January 1902

Daniel O'Leary
Mary Elizabeth Boogan

Daniel O'Leary
Mary Elizabeth Coogan
💍 1902/844

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

39
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
6 days

R. C. pro Cathedral

02/1053

4 January 1902

Rev. James Foley

No	3
Date of Notice	4 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel O'Leary	Mary Elizabeth Boogan
BDM Match (98%)	Daniel O'Leary	Mary Elizabeth Coogan
	💍 1902/844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	6 days
Marriage Place	R. C. pro Cathedral
Folio	02/1053
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Foley

4 January 1902

James Robinson Cairns
Sarah Jones

James Robinson Cairns
Sarah Jones
💍 1902/843

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
26 years

R. C. pro Cathedral

02/1052

4 January 1902

Rev. James Foley

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robinson Cairns	Sarah Jones
	💍 1902/843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	R. C. pro Cathedral
Folio	02/1052
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Foley

4 January 1902

William Calvert Vincent
Mabel White

William Calvert Vincent
Mabel White
💍 1902/2789

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

29
29

Christchurch
Sydenham

4 days
6 years

Church of England

02/9584

4 January 1902

Rev. E. A. Scott

No	5
Date of Notice	4 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Calvert Vincent	Mabel White
	💍 1902/2789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	02/9584
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Scott

6 January 1902

Michael James Crosbery
Clara Josephine Popplewell

Michael James Crosbey
Clara Josephine Popplewell
💍 1902/856

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Tailoress

26
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 weeks
3 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester St.

02/1047

6 January 1902

Rev. M. T. Marnane

No	6
Date of Notice	6 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael James Crosbery	Clara Josephine Popplewell
BDM Match (98%)	Michael James Crosbey	Clara Josephine Popplewell
	💍 1902/856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Tailoress
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St.
Folio	02/1047
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. T. Marnane

6 January 1902

Albert Edward Rickards
Charlotte Elizabeth McCausland

Albert Edward Rickard
Charlotte Elizabeth McCausland
💍 1902/895

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
14 years

Seventh Day Adventists Church

02/1005

6 January 1902

Rev. A. J. Robinson

No	7
Date of Notice	6 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Rickards	Charlotte Elizabeth McCausland
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Rickard	Charlotte Elizabeth McCausland
	💍 1902/895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Seventh Day Adventists Church
Folio	02/1005
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Robinson

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).