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 717

District of Gabriels Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar Alexander Millar Eyes

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

15 January 1902

Francis Alfred Wells
Martha Likey

Francis Alfred Wells
Martha Tikey
💍 1902/449

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

26
21

Lawrence
Lawrence

9 months
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Lawrence

02/1366

15 January 1902

Rev. P. O'Leary, Roman Catholic

No	91
Date of Notice	15 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Alfred Wells	Martha Likey
BDM Match (96%)	Francis Alfred Wells	Martha Tikey
	💍 1902/449
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	9 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lawrence
Folio	02/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Leary, Roman Catholic

4 February 1902

Samuel Alexander McIntyre
Susan Tippel

Samuel Alexander McIntyre
Susan Tippet
💍 1902/460

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

38
26

Blue Spur
Blue Spur

2 years
20 years

House of Mr. Chas. Tippel, Blue Spur

02/1367

4 February 1902

Rev. Jas. S. Reid, Presbyterian

No	92
Date of Notice	4 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Alexander McIntyre	Susan Tippel
BDM Match (96%)	Samuel Alexander McIntyre	Susan Tippet
	💍 1902/460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Blue Spur	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Chas. Tippel, Blue Spur
Folio	02/1367
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. S. Reid, Presbyterian

14 February 1902

Donald McCharen
Emma Arnold

Donald McLaren
Emma Arnold
💍 1902/467

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
21

Lawrence
Lawrence

18 months
11 years

House of Mr. Henry Arnold, Lawrence

02/1368

14 February 1902

Rev. J. S. W. Ellis, Wesleyan

No	93
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McCharen	Emma Arnold
BDM Match (93%)	Donald McLaren	Emma Arnold
	💍 1902/467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	18 months	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Henry Arnold, Lawrence
Folio	02/1368
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. W. Ellis, Wesleyan

20 March 1902

Joseph Roger Roscoro
Maria Arthur

Joseph Roger Roscow
Maria Arthur
💍 1902/470

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Music Teacher

32
29

Lawrence
Lawrence

30 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church, Lawrence

02/1371

20 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

No	94
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Roger Roscoro	Maria Arthur
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Roger Roscow	Maria Arthur
	💍 1902/470
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Music Teacher
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	30 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Lawrence
Folio	02/1371
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

25 March 1902

John McNeilly
Emily Agnes Wilson

John McNeilly
Emily Agnes Wilson
💍 1902/3080

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

29
21

Beaumont
Beaumont

3 years
21 years

House of Mr. W. Henry Wilson, Beaumont

02/2916

25 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

No	95
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McNeilly	Emily Agnes Wilson
	💍 1902/3080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Beaumont	Beaumont
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Henry Wilson, Beaumont
Folio	02/2916
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

25 March 1902

Robert Sizemore White
Sarah Ann McNeilly

Robert Sizemore White
Sarah Ann McNeily
💍 1902/469

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredgemaster

27
23

Lawrence
Blue Spur

3 days
23 years

House of Mr. David McNeilly, Blue Spur

02/1370

25 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

No	96
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Sizemore White	Sarah Ann McNeilly
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Sizemore White	Sarah Ann McNeily
	💍 1902/469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredgemaster
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. David McNeilly, Blue Spur
Folio	02/1370
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

26 March 1902

Walter Anderson
Grace Caroline Vial

Walter Anderson
Grace Caroline Vial
💍 1902/3079

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Waitress

26
31

Lawrence
Lawrence

23 years
11 years

House of Mr. Robert Findlay, Hill Street, Lawrence

02/2915

26 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	26 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Anderson	Grace Caroline Vial
	💍 1902/3079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Waitress
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	23 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Robert Findlay, Hill Street, Lawrence
Folio	02/2915
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Will, Presbyterian

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).