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 372

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 December 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

615

21 October 1902

David William Livingstone
Marrow Charlotte Thew

David William Livingstone
Marion Charlotte Thew
💍 1902/5566

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27
26

Orari Gorge
Orari Gorge

3 days
25 years

The House of Mr Robert Thew

02/5798

21 October 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	615
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David William Livingstone	Marrow Charlotte Thew
BDM Match (95%)	David William Livingstone	Marion Charlotte Thew
	💍 1902/5566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Orari Gorge	Orari Gorge
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Robert Thew
Folio	02/5798
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

616

28 October 1902

James Patrick Leigh
Kate Frew

James Patrick Leigh
Kate Finn
💍 1902/5567

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Domestic Duties

23
25

Pleasant Valley
Pleasant Valley

3 days
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

02/5799

28 October 1902

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	616
Date of Notice	28 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick Leigh	Kate Frew
BDM Match (83%)	James Patrick Leigh	Kate Finn
	💍 1902/5567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/5799
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

617

3 November 1902

Michael Gregan
Letitia Frances Earl

Michael Gregan
Letitia Frances Earl
💍 1902/5568

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
30

Pleasant Valley
Kakahu

35 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

02/5800

3 November 1902

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	617
Date of Notice	3 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Gregan	Letitia Frances Earl
	💍 1902/5568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Valley	Kakahu
Length of Residence	35 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/5800
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

618

9 December 1902

Frederick Robert Haberman
Elizabeth Stack

Frederick Robert Flatman
Elizabeth Stack
💍 1902/5926

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
30

Woodbury
Fairview, Timaru

30 years
26 years

The House of Mr Maurice Stack, Fairview, Timaru

02/5867

9 December 1902

Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian

No	618
Date of Notice	9 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Robert Haberman	Elizabeth Stack
BDM Match (90%)	Frederick Robert Flatman	Elizabeth Stack
	💍 1902/5926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Fairview, Timaru
Length of Residence	30 years	26 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Maurice Stack, Fairview, Timaru
Folio	02/5867
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian

619

10 December 1902

Henry Berry
Eva White

Henry Berry
Eva White
💍 1902/5921

Widower
Spinster

Master Plasterer
Domestic Duties

45
29

Timaru
Geraldine

3 years
3 weeks

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

02/5862

10 December 1902

Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Methodist

No	619
Date of Notice	10 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Berry	Eva White
	💍 1902/5921
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Master Plasterer	Domestic Duties
Age	45	29
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	02/5862
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Methodist

620

12 December 1902

William Fyfe
Esther Pazey

William Fyfe
Esther Pizzey
💍 1902/5569

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

25
26

Geraldine
Geraldine

24 years
26 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

02/5801

12 December 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	620
Date of Notice	12 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fyfe	Esther Pazey
BDM Match (92%)	William Fyfe	Esther Pizzey
	💍 1902/5569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	24 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/5801
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

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).