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 317

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

460

9 September 1902

John Osborne
Mary Anne Robinson

John Osborne Henry Newbery
Mary Anne Robinson
💍 1902/4250

Bachelor
Widow

Mechanic

38
32

Lyttelton
Linwood

20 years
4 years

St. Saviours

02/4055

9 September 1902

Rev. E. A. Scott, Anglican

No	460
Date of Notice	9 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Osborne	Mary Anne Robinson
BDM Match (73%)	John Osborne Henry Newbery	Mary Anne Robinson
	💍 1902/4250
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mechanic
Age	38	32
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Linwood
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours
Folio	02/4055
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Scott, Anglican

461

10 September 1902

Frederick Doleman Adams
Daisy Caroline Ricketts

Frederick John Adams
Edith Caroline Richetts
💍 1902/4251

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder
Domestic

24
25

Christchurch
Lyttelton

3 days
5 years

St. Saviours

02/4056

10 September 1902

Rev. E. A. Scott, Anglican

No	461
Date of Notice	10 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Doleman Adams	Daisy Caroline Ricketts
BDM Match (78%)	Frederick John Adams	Edith Caroline Richetts
	💍 1902/4251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours
Folio	02/4056
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Scott, Anglican

462

10 September 1902

Ralph Davidson Wallin
Ethel May Blackler

Ernest Walter Ralph Davidson
Ethel May Blackler
💍 1902/106

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
1 year

Registrar Office

02/4033

10 September 1902

Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

No	462
Date of Notice	10 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Davidson Wallin	Ethel May Blackler
BDM Match (63%)	Ernest Walter Ralph Davidson	Ethel May Blackler
	💍 1902/106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	02/4033
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

463

11 September 1902

John Watt Ferguson
Violet Peebles

John Watt Ferguson
Violet Peebles
💍 1902/4405

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic

24
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

24 years
3 years

House of Mrs. Peebles, Lyttelton

02/4108

11 September 1902

Rev. W. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	463
Date of Notice	11 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Watt Ferguson	Violet Peebles
	💍 1902/4405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Peebles, Lyttelton
Folio	02/4108
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Simpson, Presbyterian

464

11 September 1902

William Borger
Margaret Annie McLeary

William Bongen
Margaret Annie McCleary
💍 1902/4279

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

24
22

Lyttelton
Linwood

3 years
16 years

St. Mary's

02/4084

11 September 1902

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	464
Date of Notice	11 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Borger	Margaret Annie McLeary
BDM Match (89%)	William Bongen	Margaret Annie McCleary
	💍 1902/4279
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's
Folio	02/4084
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

465

11 September 1902

Frederick William Ruthberg
Daisy Gertrude Wright

Fredrick William Charles Edward Ruthberg
Daisy Gertrude Wright
💍 1902/4272

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

36
24

Opawa
Opawa

2 years
20 years

St. Mark's

02/4078

11 September 1902

Rev. E. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	465
Date of Notice	11 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Ruthberg	Daisy Gertrude Wright
BDM Match (80%)	Fredrick William Charles Edward Ruthberg	Daisy Gertrude Wright
	💍 1902/4272
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's
Folio	02/4078
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Cocks, Anglican

466

12 September 1902

Kenneth Harvey Murray
Shera Godby

Kenneth Harvey Murray
Mera Godby
💍 1902/4278

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
14 years

St. Mary's, Addington

02/4083

12 September 1902

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	466
Date of Notice	12 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Harvey Murray	Shera Godby
BDM Match (91%)	Kenneth Harvey Murray	Mera Godby
	💍 1902/4278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's, Addington
Folio	02/4083
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

467

12 September 1902

Douglas Thompson Young
Alice Seaman

Douglas Thompson Young
Alice Denman
💍 1902/4406

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
12 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street, Christchurch

02/4109

12 September 1902

Rev. W. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	467
Date of Notice	12 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Thompson Young	Alice Seaman
BDM Match (92%)	Douglas Thompson Young	Alice Denman
	💍 1902/4406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street, Christchurch
Folio	02/4109
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Simpson, Presbyterian

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 1908. 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).