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 492

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1902 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

1 October 1902

Frederick Robert Davidson
Evaline Elizabeth Clarkson

Frederick Robert Davidson
Evaline Elizabeth Clarkson
💍 1902/6091

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

22
21

Timaru
Timaru

22 years
21 years

Dwellinghouse of John Davidson, Cooper Street, Timaru

02/5856

1 October 1902

Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	60
Date of Notice	1 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Robert Davidson	Evaline Elizabeth Clarkson
	💍 1902/6091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of John Davidson, Cooper Street, Timaru
Folio	02/5856
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

21 October 1902

James Walter Gardiner
Minnie Gertrude Smith

James Walter Gardiner
Minnie Gertrude Smith
💍 1902/5909

Bachelor
Spinster

Providore
Domestic Duties

33
33

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
10 years

Dwellinghouse of Francis Smith, North Street, Timaru

02/5860

21 October 1902

Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

No	61
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Gardiner	Minnie Gertrude Smith
	💍 1902/5909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Providore	Domestic Duties
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Francis Smith, North Street, Timaru
Folio	02/5860
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

21 October 1902

James Bell
Barbara Ann Strachan

James Bell
Barbara Ann Strachan
💍 1902/5910

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

33
30

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
24 years

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

02/5869

21 October 1902

Rev. Henry P. Lawrie, Presbyterian Minister

No	62
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bell	Barbara Ann Strachan
	💍 1902/5910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	02/5869
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry P. Lawrie, Presbyterian Minister

25 October 1902

Robert Fullinger
Edith Elizabeth May Draper

Robert Pullinger
Edith Elizabeth May Draper
💍 1902/317

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
20

St. Andrews
St. Andrews

1 year
3 days

Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square, Timaru

02/6331

Under Sec. 24

8 November 1902

Rev. Samuel Buchanan, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	63
Date of Notice	25 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Fullinger	Edith Elizabeth May Draper
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Pullinger	Edith Elizabeth May Draper
	💍 1902/317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	St. Andrews	St. Andrews
Length of Residence	1 year	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square, Timaru
Folio	02/6331
Consent	Under Sec. 24
Date of Certificate	8 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Buchanan, Primitive Methodist Minister

1 November 1902

Edward Cartwright
Sarah Hay

Edward Cartwright
Sarah Hay
💍 1902/5923

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

28
26

Washdyke
Timaru

12 months
8 years

Dwellinghouse of George Stay, Timaru

02/5864

1 November 1902

Rev. Samuel Buchanan, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	64
Date of Notice	1 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cartwright	Sarah Hay
	💍 1902/5923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Timaru
Length of Residence	12 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of George Stay, Timaru
Folio	02/5864
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Buchanan, Primitive Methodist Minister

1 November 1902

Henry Baker
Sarah Clarke

Henry Baker
Sarah Clarke
💍 1902/5927

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
30

Levels
Seadown

22 years
16 years

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

02/5868

1 November 1902

Rev. H. P. Lawrie, Presbyterian Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	1 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Baker	Sarah Clarke
	💍 1902/5927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Levels	Seadown
Length of Residence	22 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	02/5868
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. P. Lawrie, Presbyterian Minister

3 November 1902

John Gibson
Jane McClintock

John Gibson
Jane McClintock
💍 1902/5920

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

60
38

Timaru
Gleniti

1 year
3 months

Dwellinghouse of J. H. Marsh, Timaru

02/5861

3 November 1902

Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	3 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gibson	Jane McClintock
	💍 1902/5920
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	60	38
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Gleniti
Length of Residence	1 year	3 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of J. H. Marsh, Timaru
Folio	02/5861
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

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).