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 363

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 December 1902 Registrar J. A. Beck

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

2 September 1902

Frank Kelby
Maud Elizabeth Minter

Frank Kelly
Maud Elizabeth Winter
💍 1902/4362

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
22

Cheviot
Southbridge

5 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Southbridge

02/5792

2 September 1902

Rev J Goggan

No	19
Date of Notice	2 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Kelby	Maud Elizabeth Minter
BDM Match (93%)	Frank Kelly	Maud Elizabeth Winter
	💍 1902/4362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Cheviot	Southbridge
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Southbridge
Folio	02/5792
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev J Goggan

22 September 1902

Herbert Henry Cook
Barbara Scott

Herbert Henry Cook
Barbara Scott
💍 1902/4663

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

27
24

Doyleston
Brookside

6 months
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Brookside

02/5793

22 September 1902

Rev W Grant

No	20
Date of Notice	22 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Cook	Barbara Scott
	💍 1902/4663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Doyleston	Brookside
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Brookside
Folio	02/5793
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W Grant

21 October 1902

Alexander Hall
Jesse Houston

Alexander Hall
Jessie Houston
💍 1902/5585

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

28
30

Irwell
Leeston

28 years
30 years

Manse, Leeston

02/5793

21 October 1902

Rev W Grant

No	21
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hall	Jesse Houston
BDM Match (96%)	Alexander Hall	Jessie Houston
	💍 1902/5585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Irwell	Leeston
Length of Residence	28 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Manse, Leeston
Folio	02/5793
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W Grant

28 October 1902

John Clarence Crump
Sarah Jane Indoe Worner

John Clarence Crump
Sarah Jane Indoe Worner
💍 1902/5586

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
24

Aylesbury
Southbridge

6 months
10 years

Wesleyan Church, Southbridge

02/5794

28 October 1902

Rev W H Beck

No	22
Date of Notice	28 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Clarence Crump	Sarah Jane Indoe Worner
	💍 1902/5586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Aylesbury	Southbridge
Length of Residence	6 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Southbridge
Folio	02/5794
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Beck

17 November 1902

John Francis Dawson
Mary Jane Taylor

John Francis Dawson
Mary Jane Taylor
💍 1902/5563

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
D[omestic] Duties

24
20

Ellesmere
Brookside

12 months
20 years

Chas Taylor's House, Brookside

02/5795

Chas Taylor, father

17 November 1902

Rev W H Beck

No	23
Date of Notice	17 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Dawson	Mary Jane Taylor
	💍 1902/5563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	D[omestic] Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere	Brookside
Length of Residence	12 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Chas Taylor's House, Brookside
Folio	02/5795
Consent	Chas Taylor, father
Date of Certificate	17 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Beck

17 November 1902

William Charles Halliday
Maria Ellen Seaton

William Charles Halliday
Maria Ellen Seaton
💍 1902/5564

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
23

Southbridge
Sedgemere

32 years
23 years

Wesleyan Church, Sedgemere

02/5796

17 November 1902

Rev W H Beck

No	24
Date of Notice	17 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Halliday	Maria Ellen Seaton
	💍 1902/5564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Sedgemere
Length of Residence	32 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Sedgemere
Folio	02/5796
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Beck

27 November 1902

Alfred Wood
Elizabeth Trevella

Alfred Wood
Elizabeth Trevella
💍 1902/5565

Bachelor
Spinster

Bridgeman

29
23

Timaru
Doyleston

8 years
6 months

Trevella's House, Doyleston

02/5797

27 November 1902

Rev W H Beck

No	25
Date of Notice	27 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Wood	Elizabeth Trevella
	💍 1902/5565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bridgeman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Doyleston
Length of Residence	8 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Trevella's House, Doyleston
Folio	02/5797
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Beck

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).