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 868

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1902

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

2206

31 May 1902

William Hedley Brooks
Marietta Ferens

William Hedley Brooks
Marietta Ferens
💍 1902/4571

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

37
45

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
3 months

Residence of Mrs Margaret Ferens, Reed St. Oamaru

02/4457

31 May 1902

Rev. Josiah Ward

No	2206
Date of Notice	31 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hedley Brooks	Marietta Ferens
	💍 1902/4571
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	37	45
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Margaret Ferens, Reed St. Oamaru
Folio	02/4457
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Josiah Ward

2207

11 June 1902

George William Bleverley
Alice Southgate

George William Cleverley
Alice Southgate
💍 1902/4565

Bachelor
Spinster

Limeburner
Domestic Servant

22
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

5 years
4 days

St Paul's Manse

02/4465

11 June 1902

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2207
Date of Notice	11 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Bleverley	Alice Southgate
BDM Match (98%)	George William Cleverley	Alice Southgate
	💍 1902/4565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Limeburner	Domestic Servant
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	5 years	4 days
Marriage Place	St Paul's Manse
Folio	02/4465
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2208

16 June 1902

James Tavish Farquhar
Marion Hepburn Davidson

James McTavish Urquhart
Marion Hepburn Davidson
💍 1902/6441

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman

26
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

9 months
22 years

Residence of Mr Thomas Bryson Davidson, Ten St. Oamaru

02/4466

16 June 1902

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2208
Date of Notice	16 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Tavish Farquhar	Marion Hepburn Davidson
BDM Match (89%)	James McTavish Urquhart	Marion Hepburn Davidson
	💍 1902/6441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Thomas Bryson Davidson, Ten St. Oamaru
Folio	02/4466
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2209

21 June 1902

Jonathan Gresham
Henrietta Louise Grave

Jonathan Graham
Henrietta Louise Grar
💍 1902/4567

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager Government Freezing Works

41
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
25 years

Residence of Mr Adam Mackay, Thames St. Oamaru

02/4468

21 June 1902

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2209
Date of Notice	21 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jonathan Gresham	Henrietta Louise Grave
BDM Match (89%)	Jonathan Graham	Henrietta Louise Grar
	💍 1902/4567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager Government Freezing Works
Age	41	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Adam Mackay, Thames St. Oamaru
Folio	02/4468
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2210

24 June 1902

George Branshaw
Ellen Aitcheson Jessie Frew

George Crawshaw
Ellen Jessie Aitchison Frew
💍 1902/4566

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

27
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
24 years

Residence of Arch Frew Esq., Avon St. Oamaru

02/4467

24 June 1902

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2210
Date of Notice	24 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Branshaw	Ellen Aitcheson Jessie Frew
BDM Match (67%)	George Crawshaw	Ellen Jessie Aitchison Frew
	💍 1902/4566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Arch Frew Esq., Avon St. Oamaru
Folio	02/4467
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2211

24 June 1902

John Rivers
Edith Fraser

George Duke Hansford
Edith Fraser
💍 1902/5628

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

30
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
4 days

St Luke's Church

02/2999

24 June 1902

Rev. N. H. Browne

No	2211
Date of Notice	24 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rivers	Edith Fraser
BDM Match (60%)	George Duke Hansford	Edith Fraser
	💍 1902/5628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church
Folio	02/2999
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. H. Browne

2212

30 June 1902

Neil McNaughton
Elizabeth Lauder

Neil McNaughton
Elizabeth Lauder
💍 1902/4568

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Servant

33
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
6 weeks

Residence of Mr John Wylie, Arun St. Oamaru

02/4469

30 June 1902

Rev. Wm. Wright

No	2212
Date of Notice	30 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil McNaughton	Elizabeth Lauder
	💍 1902/4568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Servant
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Wylie, Arun St. Oamaru
Folio	02/4469
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Wright

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).