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 442

District of PLEASANT POINT Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar N. J. Veal

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

5 April 1902

Holford Whittaker
Mabel Ada Orton

Holford Whittaker
Mabel Ada Orton
💍 1902/3221

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Importer
Household Duties

29
26

Timaru
Pleasant Point

29 years
56 years

Church of Timaru, Nars England

02/0725

5 April 1902

Rev. Stanley Hinson

No	6
Date of Notice	5 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Holford Whittaker	Mabel Ada Orton
	💍 1902/3221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Importer	Household Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	29 years	56 years
Marriage Place	Church of Timaru, Nars England
Folio	02/0725
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Hinson

9 April 1902

Frank Stowell
Laura Helnor Georgina Graham

Frank Stowell
Laura Helenor Georgina Graham
💍 1902/3225

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Household Duties

23
20

St Andrews
Cave

3 years
1 year

Gross House of Waimate

02/0728

James Graham, Brides Father

9 April 1902

Rev. Joseph White

No	7
Date of Notice	9 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Stowell	Laura Helnor Georgina Graham
BDM Match (98%)	Frank Stowell	Laura Helenor Georgina Graham
	💍 1902/3225
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Household Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	St Andrews	Cave
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Gross House of Waimate
Folio	02/0728
Consent	James Graham, Brides Father
Date of Certificate	9 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White

12 April 1902

William Samuel Davis
Elizabeth O'Donnell

William Samuel Davis
Elizabeth O'Donnell
💍 1902/3223

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Household Duties

26
20

Cave
Sutherlands

2 years
20 years

Gross Church, Timaru, England

02/0730

O'Donnell, Father

12 April 1902

Rev. Stanley Hinson

No	8
Date of Notice	12 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Samuel Davis	Elizabeth O'Donnell
	💍 1902/3223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Household Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Cave	Sutherlands
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Gross Church, Timaru, England
Folio	02/0730
Consent	O'Donnell, Father
Date of Certificate	12 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Hinson

24 May 1902

John Frederick Mead
Elizabeth Mathias Mealicott

John Frederick Medlicott
Elizabeth Watkins
💍 1902/3224

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

41
39

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

24 years
8 years

In the House of George Robinson, Cave

02/0727

24 May 1902

Rev. Stanley Hinson

No	9
Date of Notice	24 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Mead	Elizabeth Mathias Mealicott
BDM Match (61%)	John Frederick Medlicott	Elizabeth Watkins
	💍 1902/3224
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	24 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the House of George Robinson, Cave
Folio	02/0727
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Hinson

7 June 1902

William John Gibson
Elizabeth Roberts

William John Gibson
Elizabeth Roberts
💍 1902/3226

Widower
Widow

Blacksmith
Household Duties

49
56

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

25 years
12 years

In the House of the Bride

02/0729

7 June 1902

Rev. Joseph White

No	10
Date of Notice	7 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Gibson	Elizabeth Roberts
	💍 1902/3226
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Blacksmith	Household Duties
Age	49	56
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	25 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the House of the Bride
Folio	02/0729
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White

25 June 1902

John Maze
Elizabeth Ann Leitch Smith

John Maze
Elizabeth Ann Leitch Smith
💍 1902/4508

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

38
31

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

20 years
16 years

Presbyterian Church

02/0715

25 June 1902

Rev. Joseph White

No	11
Date of Notice	25 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Maze	Elizabeth Ann Leitch Smith
	💍 1902/4508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	38	31
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	20 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	02/0715
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White

30 June 1902

Herbert Hans Cain
Margaret Tate

Herbert Hans Cain
Margaret Tate
💍 1902/4666

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

22
20

Temuka
Sutherlands

20 years
11 years

In the House of the Bride

02/0597

John Tate, Father

30 June 1902

Rev. Stanley Hinson

No	12
Date of Notice	30 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Hans Cain	Margaret Tate
	💍 1902/4666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Sutherlands
Length of Residence	20 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In the House of the Bride
Folio	02/0597
Consent	John Tate, Father
Date of Certificate	30 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Hinson

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).