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 785

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

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

11 August 1902

Charles Ernest Gifford
Amy Elizabeth Cooper

Charles Ernest Gifford
Amy Elizabeth Cooper
💍 1902/168

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

58
36

Neither Invercargill
Neither Invercargill

7 years
36 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

07/4402

11 August 1902

Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

No	98
Date of Notice	11 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ernest Gifford	Amy Elizabeth Cooper
	💍 1902/168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	58	36
Dwelling Place	Neither Invercargill	Neither Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	36 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill
Folio	07/4402
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

12 August 1902

James Peterson Mednoen
May Ann Hodges

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

64
48

Teabury Invercargill
Teabury Invercargill

3 Days
3 Days

Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

07/4401

12 August 1902

Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

No	99
Date of Notice	12 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Peterson Mednoen	May Ann Hodges
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	64	48
Dwelling Place	Teabury Invercargill	Teabury Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill
Folio	07/4401
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

100

15 August 1902

Alfred Makes
Margaret Inaon

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercer
Domestic

25
20

Avenue Invercargill
Avenue Invercargill

10 years
20 years

Wesleyan Church Leet Street Invercargill

09/4431

George Father Challes

15 August 1902

Rev. Samuel Prior

No	100
Date of Notice	15 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Makes	Margaret Inaon
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercer	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Avenue Invercargill	Avenue Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Leet Street Invercargill
Folio	09/4431
Consent	George Father Challes
Date of Certificate	15 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Prior

101

19 August 1902

Alfred William Dillon
Sarah Jane Boyd

Alfred William Dillon
Sarah Jane Boyd
💍 1902/174

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

24
25

Myron Park Invercargill
Myron Park Invercargill

15 years
12 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

07/4403

19 August 1902

Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

No	101
Date of Notice	19 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Dillon	Sarah Jane Boyd
	💍 1902/174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Myron Park Invercargill	Myron Park Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Invercargill
Folio	07/4403
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

102

22 August 1902

Reginald Robert Bannell
Minnie Elizabeth Cockburn

Reginald Robert James Bennell
Minnie Elizabeth Cockburn
💍 1902/173

Bachelor
Spinster

Pianoforte Maker
Nil

25
28

Dee Street Invercargill
Beggs Street Invercargill

60 days
3 Days

Presbyterian Church Dee Street Invercargill

07/4474

22 August 1902

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	102
Date of Notice	22 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Robert Bannell	Minnie Elizabeth Cockburn
BDM Match (88%)	Reginald Robert James Bennell	Minnie Elizabeth Cockburn
	💍 1902/173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pianoforte Maker	Nil
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Dee Street Invercargill	Beggs Street Invercargill
Length of Residence	60 days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Dee Street Invercargill
Folio	07/4474
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

103

23 August 1902

Richard Noon
Ada Norton

Richard Moore
Ada Norton
💍 1902/165

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

25
22

Cowan Street Invercargill
Cowan Street Invercargill

5 Days
3 Days

Wesleyan Church Gladstone Invercargill

09/4417

23 August 1902

Rev. William Twomburn

No	103
Date of Notice	23 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Noon	Ada Norton
BDM Match (88%)	Richard Moore	Ada Norton
	💍 1902/165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Cowan Street Invercargill	Cowan Street Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Gladstone Invercargill
Folio	09/4417
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Twomburn

104

27 August 1902

William Keys
Mary Elizabeth Townsend

William Keys
Mary Elizabeth Townsend
💍 1902/152

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Hosiery Machinist

28
20

East Invercargill
North Invercargill

3 years
20 years

Wesleyan Church Leet Street Invercargill

07/4432

27 August 1902

Rev. Samuel Prior

No	104
Date of Notice	27 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Keys	Mary Elizabeth Townsend
	💍 1902/152
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Hosiery Machinist
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill	North Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Leet Street Invercargill
Folio	07/4432
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Prior

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).