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 921

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar Thomas Hinchliff

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 April 1902

Charles Stirling Buchanan
Mary Ann Harding Buchanan

Charles Stirling
Maggie Rankin Buchanan
💍 1902/3274

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

49
44

Port Chalmers
Moniwaka

3 days
10 years

House of Jessie Buchanan

02/3017

1 April 1902

Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	1 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stirling Buchanan	Mary Ann Harding Buchanan
BDM Match (62%)	Charles Stirling	Maggie Rankin Buchanan
	💍 1902/3274
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	49	44
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Moniwaka
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Jessie Buchanan
Folio	02/3017
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

7 April 1902

Duncan Neil Fletcher
Jessie Hepburn McDonald

Duncan Neil Fletcher
Jessie Hepburn McDonald
💍 1902/3275

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

27
29

Mansford Town Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

27 years
29 years

House of John McDonald, Port Chalmers

02/3018

7 April 1902

Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	7 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Neil Fletcher	Jessie Hepburn McDonald
	💍 1902/3275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Mansford Town Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	27 years	29 years
Marriage Place	House of John McDonald, Port Chalmers
Folio	02/3018
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

12 April 1902

Matthew Vance King
Daisy King

Matthew Vance
Daisy King
💍 1902/3276

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

22
21

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

4 days
11 years

House of Mrs. King, Port Chalmers

02/3019

12 April 1902

Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	12 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Vance King	Daisy King
BDM Match (86%)	Matthew Vance	Daisy King
	💍 1902/3276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 days	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. King, Port Chalmers
Folio	02/3019
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

22 April 1902

Octavius Harwood Wilson Carey
Hannah Hutchinson Carey

Octavious Harwood Wilson
Hannah Hutchison Carey
💍 1902/3254

Bachelor
Spinster

Boatman
Domestic

29
22

Port Chalmers
Mansford Town Port Chalmers

4 days
5 years

House of O. H. Carey, Mansford Town

02/3021

22 April 1902

Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

No	10
Date of Notice	22 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Octavius Harwood Wilson Carey	Hannah Hutchinson Carey
BDM Match (86%)	Octavious Harwood Wilson	Hannah Hutchison Carey
	💍 1902/3254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boatman	Domestic
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Mansford Town Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	House of O. H. Carey, Mansford Town
Folio	02/3021
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

16 June 1902

William John Mitchell
Annie Morgan

William John Mitchell
Annie Morgan
💍 1902/3255

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Nil

26
28

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

10 years
8 years

House of John Morgan, Port Chalmers

02/3022

16 June 1902

Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

No	11
Date of Notice	16 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Mitchell	Annie Morgan
	💍 1902/3255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Nil
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of John Morgan, Port Chalmers
Folio	02/3022
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

23 June 1902

Francis John Thornton
Janet Greig

Francis John Thornton
Janet Greig
💍 1902/3253

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic

35
32

Port Chalmers
Deborah Bay Port Chalmers

16 months
32 years

House of Deborah Greig

02/3020

23 June 1902

Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	23 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John Thornton	Janet Greig
	💍 1902/3253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Deborah Bay Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	16 months	32 years
Marriage Place	House of Deborah Greig
Folio	02/3020
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Clement, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1908. 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).