Intentions to Marry, 1903 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840423, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 10 2025

1903 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 087

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar F. W. Mansfield

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

317

1 June 1903

William Henry Parfitt
Ellen Tremellyn Gray

William Henry Parfitt
Ellen Trewellyn Gray
💍 1903/2599

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
22

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
2 weeks

Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington

03/2806

1 June 1903

Rev. W. E. Oliver

No	317
Date of Notice	1 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Parfitt	Ellen Tremellyn Gray
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Parfitt	Ellen Trewellyn Gray
	💍 1903/2599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2806
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Oliver

318

1 June 1903

David Munro McKay
Vera Daisnia Dixon

David Munro McKay
Vera Davinia Dixon
💍 1903/1334

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

20
23

Wellington
Wellington

20 years
3 years

Residence of Mr. A. McKay, Sydney Street, Wellington

03/3980

Angus McKay, Father

1 June 1903

Rev. W. J. Dean

No	318
Date of Notice	1 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Munro McKay	Vera Daisnia Dixon
BDM Match (94%)	David Munro McKay	Vera Davinia Dixon
	💍 1903/1334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. McKay, Sydney Street, Wellington
Folio	03/3980
Consent	Angus McKay, Father
Date of Certificate	1 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Dean

319

1 June 1903

Wybrant Olphert Watt
Florence Salmon

Wybrant Olphert
Florence Salmon
💍 1903/116

Widower (13 March 1888)
Widow (2 January 1900)

Journalist

50
36

Wellington
Wellington

2 weeks
5 years

Registrar's Office, Wellington

03/2171

1 June 1903

F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

No	319
Date of Notice	1 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wybrant Olphert Watt	Florence Salmon
BDM Match (88%)	Wybrant Olphert	Florence Salmon
	💍 1903/116
Condition	Widower (13 March 1888)	Widow (2 January 1900)
Profession	Journalist
Age	50	36
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	03/2171
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1903
Officiating Minister	F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

320

1 June 1903

Richard Victor Anderson
Margaret Kate Edwards

Richard Victor Anderson
Margaret Kate Edwards
💍 1903/2565

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
27

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
12 years

St. Mark's Church, Sussex Square, Wellington

03/2193

1 June 1903

Rev. H. E. Tuckey

No	320
Date of Notice	1 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Victor Anderson	Margaret Kate Edwards
	💍 1903/2565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Sussex Square, Wellington
Folio	03/2193
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Tuckey

321

2 June 1903

James Robertson
Louisa Cutler

James Robertson
Louisa Cutler
💍 1903/117

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

35
23

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
4 months

Registrar's Office, Wellington

03/2172

2 June 1903

F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

No	321
Date of Notice	2 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robertson	Louisa Cutler
	💍 1903/117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	03/2172
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1903
Officiating Minister	F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

322

2 June 1903

William George MacPartland
Emily Catherine Rains

William George McPortland
Emily Catherine Rains
💍 1903/1206

William Henry Higgins
Emily Catherine Weston
💍 1903/5684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
21

Wellington
Wellington

4 days
21 years

St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington

03/2211

2 June 1903

Rev. J. Devoy

No	322
Date of Notice	2 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George MacPartland	Emily Catherine Rains
BDM Match (96%)	William George McPortland	Emily Catherine Rains
	💍 1903/1206
BDM Match (59%)	William Henry Higgins	Emily Catherine Weston
	💍 1903/5684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2211
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Devoy

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 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).