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 700

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar George Guthrie Harper

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 January 1902

John Souness
Isabella Malcolm

John Souness
Isabella Malcolm
💍 1902/372

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
29

Otakia, Otago
Otakia, Otago

3 years
29 years

East Taieri Church

02/1361

31 January 1902

Rev. Robert Fairmaid

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Souness	Isabella Malcolm
	💍 1902/372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Otakia, Otago	Otakia, Otago
Length of Residence	3 years	29 years
Marriage Place	East Taieri Church
Folio	02/1361
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Fairmaid

3 February 1902

John William Fowler
Kate Harris

John William Fowler
Kate Harris
💍 1902/3095

William Duke Gower
Katie Harris
💍 1902/5450

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright

25
25

Mosgiel, Otago
Saddle Hill, Otago

25 years
15 years

East Taieri Church

02/2905

3 February 1902

Rev. J. B. Hall

No	2
Date of Notice	3 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Fowler	Kate Harris
	💍 1902/3095
BDM Match (64%)	William Duke Gower	Katie Harris
	💍 1902/5450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Saddle Hill, Otago
Length of Residence	25 years	15 years
Marriage Place	East Taieri Church
Folio	02/2905
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Hall

4 February 1902

Daniel Forbes McKay
Wilhelmina Myers

Daniel Forbes McKay
Wilhelmina Meiers
💍 1902/373

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

28
16

Henley, Otago
Henley, Otago

3 days
16 years

House of Mrs. Laurie, Henley, Otago

02/1362

Ellen Myers, mother

4 February 1902

Rev. R. Fairmaid

No	3
Date of Notice	4 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Forbes McKay	Wilhelmina Myers
BDM Match (94%)	Daniel Forbes McKay	Wilhelmina Meiers
	💍 1902/373
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	28	16
Dwelling Place	Henley, Otago	Henley, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Laurie, Henley, Otago
Folio	02/1362
Consent	Ellen Myers, mother
Date of Certificate	4 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Fairmaid

4 March 1902

William Watson Shennan
Elizabeth McKegg

William Watson Shennan
Elizabeth McKegg
💍 1902/2108

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

32
26

Henley, Otago
Henley, Otago

3 days
16 years

At the House of Catherine McKegg, Henley, Otago

02/1363

4 March 1902

Rev. William H. Howes

No	4
Date of Notice	4 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson Shennan	Elizabeth McKegg
	💍 1902/2108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Henley, Otago	Henley, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Catherine McKegg, Henley, Otago
Folio	02/1363
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. William H. Howes

17 March 1902

Charles Milne
Agnes Fulton Irvine

Charles Milne
Agnes Falton Irvine
💍 1902/3096

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

20
18

Riccarton, East Taieri
Riccarton, East Taieri

15 years
4 years

East Taieri Church

02/2906

Alexander Irvine, father

17 March 1902

Rev. J. B. Hall

No	5
Date of Notice	17 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Milne	Agnes Fulton Irvine
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Milne	Agnes Falton Irvine
	💍 1902/3096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Riccarton, East Taieri	Riccarton, East Taieri
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	East Taieri Church
Folio	02/2906
Consent	Alexander Irvine, father
Date of Certificate	17 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Hall

25 March 1902

Alexander Rankin
Sarah Millan

Alexander Rankin
Sarah Mullan
💍 1902/2109

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer

27
24

North Taieri, Otago
North Taieri, Otago

2 years
3 years

At the house of Thomas Robertson, North Taieri

02/1364

James Millan, father

25 March 1902

Rev. Thomas Paulin

No	6
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Rankin	Sarah Millan
BDM Match (96%)	Alexander Rankin	Sarah Mullan
	💍 1902/2109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	North Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Thomas Robertson, North Taieri
Folio	02/1364
Consent	James Millan, father
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Paulin

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).