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 133

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Frederick William 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

24 January 1903

Frank Whitistey
Ellen Bergin

Frank Whitiskey
Ellen Bergin
💍 1903/783

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
30

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
10 years

Registrars Office, Wellington

03/618

24 January 1903

G. G. Hodgkins, The Deputy Registrar

No	47
Date of Notice	24 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Whitistey	Ellen Bergin
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Whitiskey	Ellen Bergin
	💍 1903/783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Wellington
Folio	03/618
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1903
Officiating Minister	G. G. Hodgkins, The Deputy Registrar

24 January 1903

John William Martin Hamilton
Charlotte Annie Pearce

John William Martin Hamilton
Charlotte Annie Pearce
💍 1903/1575

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
23

Wellington
Wellington

24 years
3 weeks

Residence of Mr. Hamilton, Sages Lane, off Tory Street, Wellington

03/735

24 January 1903

Major Spargo

No	48
Date of Notice	24 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Martin Hamilton	Charlotte Annie Pearce
	💍 1903/1575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	24 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Hamilton, Sages Lane, off Tory Street, Wellington
Folio	03/735
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Major Spargo

26 January 1903

Andrew Carrigan Cooper
Jane Harriet Hendle

Andrew Carrigan Couper
Jane Harriet Hendle
💍 1903/1601

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

25
21

Wellington
Kaiwarra

8 years
21 years

St. Johns Church, Wellington

03/686

26 January 1903

Rev. J. Paterson

No	49
Date of Notice	26 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Carrigan Cooper	Jane Harriet Hendle
BDM Match (98%)	Andrew Carrigan Couper	Jane Harriet Hendle
	💍 1903/1601
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Kaiwarra
Length of Residence	8 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Wellington
Folio	03/686
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson

26 January 1903

John James Hooper
Mary Elizabeth Wilson

John James Hooper
Mary Elizabeth Wilson
💍 1903/1134

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
Clerk

32
25

Wellington
Wellington

9 months
4 days

Residence of Rev. B. R. Thomas, Owen Street, Wellington

03/1434

26 January 1903

Rev. B. L. Thomas

No	50
Date of Notice	26 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Hooper	Mary Elizabeth Wilson
	💍 1903/1134
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	Clerk
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	9 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. B. R. Thomas, Owen Street, Wellington
Folio	03/1434
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. L. Thomas

29 January 1903

George Haywood
Martha Elizabeth Crowther

George Haywood
Martha Elizabeth Crowther
💍 1903/793

Bachelor
Widow

Gardener

29
37

Hutt
Hutt

Life
4 years

Registrars Office, Wellington

03/621

29 January 1903

J. J. Mansfield, The Registrar

No	51
Date of Notice	29 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Haywood	Martha Elizabeth Crowther
	💍 1903/793
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gardener
Age	29	37
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	Life	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Wellington
Folio	03/621
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1903
Officiating Minister	J. J. Mansfield, The Registrar

27 January 1903

Cuthbert James Spiers
Elizabeth O'Connor

Cuthbert James Spiers
Elizabeth OConnor
💍 1903/1516

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic Servant

28
21

Karori
Karori

28 years
9 years

St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington

03/723

27 January 1903

Rev. Thos. O'Shea

No	52
Date of Notice	27 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cuthbert James Spiers	Elizabeth O'Connor
BDM Match (97%)	Cuthbert James Spiers	Elizabeth OConnor
	💍 1903/1516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Karori	Karori
Length of Residence	28 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	03/723
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. O'Shea

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).