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 783

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar John Gaumon Petre

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

7 July 1902

William Jackson Barton
Margaret Mayes Spink

William Jackson
Margaret Hayes
💍 1902/135

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

20
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

20 years
2 years

Residence of John Anderson, Princes Street, Invercargill

02/4437

7 July 1902

Rev. John Muirhead

No	85
Date of Notice	7 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jackson Barton	Margaret Mayes Spink
BDM Match (67%)	William Jackson	Margaret Hayes
	💍 1902/135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Anderson, Princes Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4437
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Muirhead

14 July 1902

William McLeman Ross
Elizabeth Farland Spence

William McLennan Ross
Elizabeth McFarlane
💍 1902/166

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

34
34

Invercargill
Invercargill

6 years
10 days

Commercial Hotel, Invercargill

02/4418

14 July 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	86
Date of Notice	14 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McLeman Ross	Elizabeth Farland Spence
BDM Match (77%)	William McLennan Ross	Elizabeth McFarlane
	💍 1902/166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	10 days
Marriage Place	Commercial Hotel, Invercargill
Folio	02/4418
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

14 July 1902

William Wilson Bain
Florence Hazel Lynn

William Wilson
Florence Mazel Lynn
💍 1902/4552

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housemaid

25
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

02/4399

14 July 1902

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	87
Date of Notice	14 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilson Bain	Florence Hazel Lynn
BDM Match (84%)	William Wilson	Florence Mazel Lynn
	💍 1902/4552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housemaid
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	02/4399
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

16 July 1902

Reginald Badman Baldwin
Ellen Matilda Baldwin

Reginald Badman
Ellen Matilda Baldwin
💍 1902/162

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
18

Myross Bush, Invercargill
Myross Bush, Invercargill

4 days
18 years

Presbyterian Manse, Myross Bush, Invercargill

02/4414

William James Baldwin, Father

16 July 1902

Rev. James Cumming

No	88
Date of Notice	16 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Badman Baldwin	Ellen Matilda Baldwin
BDM Match (83%)	Reginald Badman	Ellen Matilda Baldwin
	💍 1902/162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Myross Bush, Invercargill	Myross Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Myross Bush, Invercargill
Folio	02/4414
Consent	William James Baldwin, Father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Cumming

22 July 1902

Herbert Valentine Wells
Edith Adelaide White

Herbert Valentine Wells
Edith Adelaide White
💍 1902/169

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Factory Manager
Domestic

28
20

Underwood, Invercargill
Wallace Town, Invercargill

6 years
10 years

Presbyterian Manse, Wallace Town, Invercargill

02/4420

William White, Father

22 July 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	89
Date of Notice	22 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Valentine Wells	Edith Adelaide White
	💍 1902/169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Factory Manager	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Underwood, Invercargill	Wallace Town, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Wallace Town, Invercargill
Folio	02/4420
Consent	William White, Father
Date of Certificate	22 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

26 July 1902

John Walker Preston
Jessie Young Spence

John Walker
Jessie Young
💍 1902/167

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
18

Woodland, Invercargill
Elles Road, Invercargill

24 years
18 years

Presbyterian Manse, Kelvin Street, Invercargill

02/4419

26 July 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	90
Date of Notice	26 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker Preston	Jessie Young Spence
BDM Match (61%)	John Walker	Jessie Young
	💍 1902/167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Woodland, Invercargill	Elles Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4419
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

28 July 1902

John Edward Popdell
Isabella McMillan Lachlan

John Edward Lopdell
Isabella McLachlan
💍 1902/134

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
28

Invercargill
Elles Road, Invercargill

7 years
5 years

Residence of Mrs. Lachlan, Elles Road, Invercargill

02/4428

28 July 1902

Rev. Hebron Smith

No	91
Date of Notice	28 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Popdell	Isabella McMillan Lachlan
BDM Match (83%)	John Edward Lopdell	Isabella McLachlan
	💍 1902/134
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Elles Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Lachlan, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	02/4428
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hebron Smith

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).