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 252

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

3 June 1903

Walter Charles Read
Minnie Coniston Wingate

Walter Charles Read
Minnie Coniston Wingate
💍 1903/5595

Bachelor
Spinster

Glass Silverer

33 years
26 years

Palmerston North
Longburn

3 days
16 years

At the house of John Wingate Longburn

03/5487

3 June 1903

Revd J.W. Newbold Methodist Minister Palmerston North

No	60
Date of Notice	3 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Charles Read	Minnie Coniston Wingate
	💍 1903/5595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Glass Silverer
Age	33 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Longburn
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	At the house of John Wingate Longburn
Folio	03/5487
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd J.W. Newbold Methodist Minister Palmerston North

5 June 1903

Henry Davison
Edith Priscilla Heslop

Henry Davison
Edith Priscilla Heslop
💍 1903/2510

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24 years
23 years

Kairanga
Palmerston North

24 years
3 years

At the office of the Registrar Palmerston North

03/2079

5 June 1903

Robt N. Keeling Registrar Palmerston North

No	61
Date of Notice	5 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Davison	Edith Priscilla Heslop
	💍 1903/2510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Kairanga	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar Palmerston North
Folio	03/2079
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Robt N. Keeling Registrar Palmerston North

9 June 1903

William Ernest Hitchings
Lillian Josephine Bell

William Ernest Hitchings
Lilian Josephine Bell
💍 1903/2494

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27 years
26 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 years
15 years

All Saints Church Palmerston North

03/2086

9 June 1903

Revd C.C. Harper Anglican Minister Palmerston North

No	62
Date of Notice	9 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Hitchings	Lillian Josephine Bell
BDM Match (98%)	William Ernest Hitchings	Lilian Josephine Bell
	💍 1903/2494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Palmerston North
Folio	03/2086
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd C.C. Harper Anglican Minister Palmerston North

23 June 1903

Ernest John Schwass
Agnes May Russell

Ernest John Schwass
Agnes May Russell
💍 1903/2495

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

26 years
20 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
1 week

All Saints Church Palmerston North

03/2087

23 June 1903

Revd C.C. Harper Anglican Minister Palmerston North

No	63
Date of Notice	23 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Schwass	Agnes May Russell
	💍 1903/2495
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	26 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Palmerston North
Folio	03/2087
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd C.C. Harper Anglican Minister Palmerston North

23 June 1903

William John Saxley
Mary Edith Smith

William John Saxby
Mary Edith Smith
💍 1903/2511

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22 years
33 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 weeks
2 weeks

At the office of the Registrar Palmerston North

03/2080

23 June 1903

Robt N. Keeling Registrar Palmerston North

No	64
Date of Notice	23 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Saxley	Mary Edith Smith
BDM Match (95%)	William John Saxby	Mary Edith Smith
	💍 1903/2511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar Palmerston North
Folio	03/2080
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Robt N. Keeling Registrar Palmerston North

23 June 1903

Michael Peter Feeney
Mary Tracey

Michael Peter Feeney
Mary Tracey
💍 1903/2503

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

29 years
21 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
3 years

St Patricks Church Palmerston North

03/2095

23 June 1903

Revd P.W. Symons C.P. Palmerston North

No	65
Date of Notice	23 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Peter Feeney	Mary Tracey
	💍 1903/2503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church Palmerston North
Folio	03/2095
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd P.W. Symons C.P. Palmerston North

27 June 1903

Thomas Reginald Attwood
Alicia Henrietta Josephine Williams

Thomas Reginald Attwood
Alicia Henrihetta Josephine Williams
💍 1903/2498

Bachelor
Spinster

Artist
Music Teacher

36 years
24 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 years
2 years

Emmanuel Congregational Church Palmerston North

03/2090

27 June 1903

Revd S.J. Baker Congregationalist Minister Palmerston North

No	66
Date of Notice	27 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Reginald Attwood	Alicia Henrietta Josephine Williams
BDM Match (99%)	Thomas Reginald Attwood	Alicia Henrihetta Josephine Williams
	💍 1903/2498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artist	Music Teacher
Age	36 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Emmanuel Congregational Church Palmerston North
Folio	03/2090
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd S.J. Baker Congregationalist Minister Palmerston North

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).