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 480

District of Temuka Quarter ending 31 December 1902 Registrar A. A. Winterburn

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

14 October 1902

John Pahlst Bryan
Lucinda Barrett

John Patrick Bryan
Lucinda Barrett
💍 1902/6084

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

38
34

Temuka
Temuka

27 years
3 years

At the Residence of J. W. Barrett, Arowhenua

095850

17 October 1902

Rev. J. Blight

No	22
Date of Notice	14 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pahlst Bryan	Lucinda Barrett
BDM Match (86%)	John Patrick Bryan	Lucinda Barrett
	💍 1902/6084
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	38	34
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	27 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of J. W. Barrett, Arowhenua
Folio	095850
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight

18 October 1902

Hugh McDonald
Agnes Woodhead

Hugh McDonald
Agnes Woodhead
💍 1902/6083

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

26
18

Milford Temuka
Milford Temuka

2 years
18 years

At the Residence of J. M. Woodhead, Milford Temuka

095849

Agnes Woodhead (mother)

18 October 1902

Rev. J. Blight

No	23
Date of Notice	18 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McDonald	Agnes Woodhead
	💍 1902/6083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Milford Temuka	Milford Temuka
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of J. M. Woodhead, Milford Temuka
Folio	095849
Consent	Agnes Woodhead (mother)
Date of Certificate	18 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight

31 October 1902

Henry Phillips
Maud Ellen Jackson

Henry Phillips
Maud Ellen Jackson Griffin
💍 1902/6081

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

27
22

Temuka
Temuka

27 years
22 years

At the Residence of Walter Phillips, Main St. Temuka

095847

31 October 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp

No	24
Date of Notice	31 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Phillips	Maud Ellen Jackson
BDM Match (85%)	Henry Phillips	Maud Ellen Jackson Griffin
	💍 1902/6081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	27 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Walter Phillips, Main St. Temuka
Folio	095847
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp

6 November 1902

William Thomas Hore
Ruth King

William Thomas Hore
Ruth King
💍 1902/6082

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

26
22

Temuka
Temuka

1 year
22 years

At the House of J. M. King, Temuka

095848

6 November 1902

Rev. J. Sharp

No	25
Date of Notice	6 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Hore	Ruth King
	💍 1902/6082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	At the House of J. M. King, Temuka
Folio	095848
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sharp

6 December 1902

William James Lyon
Harriet Ackroyd

William James Lyon
Harriett Ackroyd
💍 1902/6085

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
27

Rangitata Valley
Waitohi

26 years
27 years

At the Residence of George McCullough, Rangitata Valley

095851

6 December 1902

Rev. J. White

No	26
Date of Notice	6 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Lyon	Harriet Ackroyd
BDM Match (97%)	William James Lyon	Harriett Ackroyd
	💍 1902/6085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Rangitata Valley	Waitohi
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of George McCullough, Rangitata Valley
Folio	095851
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. White

22 December 1902

James Alexander Weir
Christina Johnson

James Alexander Weir
Christina Johnson
💍 1902/6076

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

26
28

Temuka
Waitohi Flat

10 days
20 years

St. Peter's Church, Temuka

096250

22 December 1902

Rev. J. M. Adcock

No	27
Date of Notice	22 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Weir	Christina Johnson
	💍 1902/6076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Waitohi Flat
Length of Residence	10 days	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Temuka
Folio	096250
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Adcock

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).