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 366

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

589

13 January 1902

James Anderson Dean
Ada Jane Bracefield

James Anderson Dean
Ada Jane Bracefield
💍 1902/902

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

23
23

Geraldine
Orari

2 years
10 years

The House of Mr Jonathan Bracefield, Orari

02/1111

13 January 1902

Rev. John Knox Barklie, Church of England

No	589
Date of Notice	13 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Anderson Dean	Ada Jane Bracefield
	💍 1902/902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Orari
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Jonathan Bracefield, Orari
Folio	02/1111
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Knox Barklie, Church of England

590

20 January 1902

Charles Henry Scott
Joanna Margaret McLeod

Charles Henry Scott
Johanna Margaret McLeod
💍 1902/898

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

27
27

Woodbury
Orari Gorge

3 weeks
10 years

The House of Mr Murdoch McLeod, Orari Gorge

02/1107

20 January 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	590
Date of Notice	20 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Scott	Joanna Margaret McLeod
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Henry Scott	Johanna Margaret McLeod
	💍 1902/898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Orari Gorge
Length of Residence	3 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Murdoch McLeod, Orari Gorge
Folio	02/1107
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

591

18 February 1902

Joseph Charles Moore
Alice Elizabeth McCaskey

Joseph Charles Moore
Alice Elizabeth McCaskey
💍 1902/910

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Milliner

25
23

Geraldine
Geraldine

25 years
16 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

02/1112

18 February 1902

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	591
Date of Notice	18 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Charles Moore	Alice Elizabeth McCaskey
	💍 1902/910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Milliner
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	25 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/1112
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

592

8 March 1902

William Wells
Nellie King

William Wells
Nellie King
💍 1902/899

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Servant

35
19

Geraldine
Geraldine

7 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

02/1108

Elizabeth Harriett King, mother of bride

8 March 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	592
Date of Notice	8 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wells	Nellie King
	💍 1902/899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Servant
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	7 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/1108
Consent	Elizabeth Harriett King, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	8 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

593

10 March 1902

Harry Kelly
Agnes Rowe

Harry Kelly
Agnes Rowe
💍 1902/901

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
21

Belfield - Orari
Geraldine

1 year
21 years

The House of Mr John Rowe, Geraldine

02/1110

10 March 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	593
Date of Notice	10 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Kelly	Agnes Rowe
	💍 1902/901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Belfield - Orari	Geraldine
Length of Residence	1 year	21 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr John Rowe, Geraldine
Folio	02/1110
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

594

25 March 1902

Daniel Wilkinson
Gertrude Alice Fyfe

Daniel Wilkinson
Gertrude Alice Fyfe
💍 1902/900

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

25
26

Orari Station Road
Geraldine

11 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

02/1109

25 March 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	594
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Wilkinson	Gertrude Alice Fyfe
	💍 1902/900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Orari Station Road	Geraldine
Length of Residence	11 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/1109
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, 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 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).