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 106

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1903

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

213

8 April 1903

John Higgins
Annie Barry

John Higgins
Annie Barry
💍 1903/1205

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

33
26

Wellington
Wellington

10 years
4 years

St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington

03/2262

8 April 1903

Rev. T. O'Shea

No	213
Date of Notice	8 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Higgins	Annie Barry
	💍 1903/1205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2262
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Shea

214

8 April 1903

Elimelech Alfred Clements
Anne Luke

Elimelech Alfred Clements
Anne Luke
💍 1903/2602

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmongers Assistant

23
24

Wellington
Wellington

23 years
21 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Webb Street, Wellington

03/2309

8 April 1903

Rev. J. Dawson

No	214
Date of Notice	8 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elimelech Alfred Clements	Anne Luke
	💍 1903/2602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmongers Assistant
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Webb Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2309
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson

215

8 April 1903

William John Norman
Elizabeth Alice Mildenhall

William John Noman
Elizabeth Alice Mildenhall
💍 1903/2604

Bachelor
Spinster

Expressman
Dressmaker

27
21

Wellington
Wellington

27 years
21 years

Trinity Wesleyan Church, Briddiford Street, Wellington

03/2288

8 April 1903

Rev. G. Bond

No	215
Date of Notice	8 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Norman	Elizabeth Alice Mildenhall
BDM Match (97%)	William John Noman	Elizabeth Alice Mildenhall
	💍 1903/2604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expressman	Dressmaker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	27 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Wesleyan Church, Briddiford Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2288
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Bond

216

9 April 1903

William Arthur Pearman
Amy Compton

William Arthur Pearman
Amy Compton
💍 1903/2563

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant

35
33

Wellington
Wellington

28 years
33 years

St. Thomas' Church, Briddiford Street, Wellington

03/2214

9 April 1903

Rev. J. Walker

No	216
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Pearman	Amy Compton
	💍 1903/2563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	28 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas' Church, Briddiford Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2214
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Walker

217

9 April 1903

Charles Edward Linegar
Norah Wanstall

Charles Edward Linegar
Norah Wanstall
💍 1903/395

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
23

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
3 years

St. Johns Church, Wellington

03/6069

9 April 1903

Rev. J. Paterson

No	217
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Linegar	Norah Wanstall
	💍 1903/395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Wellington
Folio	03/6069
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson

218

9 April 1903

Thomas Frank Foley
Alfreda Luke

Thomas Frank Foley
Alfreda Luke
💍 1903/2569

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Machinist

24
24

Wellington
Wellington

24 years
9 years

St. Peters Church, Wellington

03/2197

9 April 1903

Rev. E. W. S. Maclaverty

No	218
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frank Foley	Alfreda Luke
	💍 1903/2569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Machinist
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	24 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Wellington
Folio	03/2197
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. S. Maclaverty

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).