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 370

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 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

606

1 July 1902

Charles Frederick Collins
Mary Beattie

Charles Frederick Collins
Mary Beattie
💍 1902/4340

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster
Domestic Duties

30
20

Hilton
Hilton

3 days
20 years

The House of Mr. Beattie, Hilton

09/4171

William John Beattie, Father

1 July 1902

Rev. George Barclay, Presbyterian

No	606
Date of Notice	1 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Collins	Mary Beattie
	💍 1902/4340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster	Domestic Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Hilton
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Beattie, Hilton
Folio	09/4171
Consent	William John Beattie, Father
Date of Certificate	1 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Barclay, Presbyterian

607

1 July 1902

Alfred Herbert Bamford
Catherine Ida Fergusson

Alfred Herbert Bamford
Catherine Ida Fergusson
💍 1902/4345

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

28
23

Woodbury
Woodbury

3 days
3 years

St. Thomas Church, Woodbury

09/4176

1 July 1902

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	607
Date of Notice	1 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Herbert Bamford	Catherine Ida Fergusson
	💍 1902/4345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Woodbury
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Woodbury
Folio	09/4176
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

608

12 July 1902

Edward Charles Evans
Caroline Mary Webb

Edward Charles Evans
Caroline Mary Webb
💍 1902/4346

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

23
25

Orari Gorge
Woodbury

5 months
8 years

St. Thomas Church, Woodbury

09/4177

12 July 1902

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	608
Date of Notice	12 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Charles Evans	Caroline Mary Webb
	💍 1902/4346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Orari Gorge	Woodbury
Length of Residence	5 months	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Woodbury
Folio	09/4177
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

609

4 August 1902

Richard Robert Storehouse
Esther Ann Borrell

Richard Robert Stonehouse
Esther Ann Borrell
💍 1902/4347

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

27
29

Geraldine
Geraldine

4 years
4 years

The House of Mr. William Borrell, Geraldine

09/4178

4 August 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	609
Date of Notice	4 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Robert Storehouse	Esther Ann Borrell
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Robert Stonehouse	Esther Ann Borrell
	💍 1902/4347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. William Borrell, Geraldine
Folio	09/4178
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

610

11 August 1902

James McCann
Margaret Andrews

James McCann
Margaret Andrews
💍 1902/4344

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

53
34

Kakahu
Geraldine

3 years
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

09/4175

11 August 1902

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	610
Date of Notice	11 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McCann	Margaret Andrews
	💍 1902/4344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	53	34
Dwelling Place	Kakahu	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	09/4175
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

611

18 August 1902

Peter Gordon
Alice Maud Glanville

Peter Gordon
Alice Maud Glanville
💍 1902/4341

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
27

Woodbury
Woodbury

3 days
2 months

Presbyterian Church, Woodbury

09/4172

18 August 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	611
Date of Notice	18 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Gordon	Alice Maud Glanville
	💍 1902/4341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Woodbury
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodbury
Folio	09/4172
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 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).