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 605

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar William Joseph Hall

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 February 1902

John Buchanan
Mary Owen Kirkwood

John Buchanan
Mary Owen Kirkwood
💍 1902/361

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

31 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 week
3 days

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

02/1350

14 February 1902

Revd Alfred Hodge, Congregational Minister

No	57
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Buchanan	Mary Owen Kirkwood
	💍 1902/361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	31 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	02/1350
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Revd Alfred Hodge, Congregational Minister

14 February 1902

Charles Cornish
Christina Robertson Ritchie

Charles Cornish
Christina Robertson Ritchie
💍 1902/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

27 years
25 years

Burnside
Burnside

4 years
13 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

02/1286

14 February 1902

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	58
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cornish	Christina Robertson Ritchie
	💍 1902/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Burnside	Burnside
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	02/1286
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

14 February 1902

Arnold Morell Macdonald
Ella Mary Morris

Arnold Morell Macdonald
Ella Mary Morris
💍 1902/1098

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

28 years
26 years

Invercargill
Dunedin

28 years
26 years

In the house of Arthur William Morris, Heriot Row, Dunedin

02/1288

14 February 1902

Revd James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	59
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold Morell Macdonald	Ella Mary Morris
	💍 1902/1098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Dunedin
Length of Residence	28 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Arthur William Morris, Heriot Row, Dunedin
Folio	02/1288
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Revd James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

15 February 1902

James Fearon
Jessie Argue

James Fearon
Jessie Argue
💍 1902/1012

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

25 years
19 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

25 years
2 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

02/1287

Jane Argue, mother of minor

15 February 1902

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	60
Date of Notice	15 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fearon	Jessie Argue
	💍 1902/1012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	02/1287
Consent	Jane Argue, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	15 February 1902
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

15 February 1902

Charles Burgess
Annie Watson

Charles Burgess
Annie Watson
💍 1902/1013

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

25 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 year

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

02/1288

Benjamin Watson, father of minor

15 February 1902

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	61
Date of Notice	15 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Burgess	Annie Watson
	💍 1902/1013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	02/1288
Consent	Benjamin Watson, father of minor
Date of Certificate	15 February 1902
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

17 February 1902

William Renfrey
Mary Gemmell Reid

William Ren-Frey
Mary Gemmel Reid
💍 1902/1100

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
23 years

In the Jewish Church, Dunedin

02/1289

17 February 1902

Revd James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	62
Date of Notice	17 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Renfrey	Mary Gemmell Reid
BDM Match (91%)	William Ren-Frey	Mary Gemmel Reid
	💍 1902/1100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Jewish Church, Dunedin
Folio	02/1289
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Revd James Gibb, Presbyterian 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).