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 537

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar John Burden

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

8 April 1903

Arthur Henry Cox Hewitt
Alice Elizabeth Dickson

Arthur Henry Cox Hewitt
Alice Elizabeth Dickson
💍 1903/2757

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

30
28

Napier
Napier

3 days
9 years

In the Cathedral at Napier

03/2370

8 April 1903

Rev. W. Lambert

No	31
Date of Notice	8 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Cox Hewitt	Alice Elizabeth Dickson
	💍 1903/2757
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Cathedral at Napier
Folio	03/2370
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lambert

9 April 1903

Charles Edward Johnston
Katherine Muriel Balfour

Charles Edward Johnston
Katherine Muriel Balfour
💍 1903/2398

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
24

Napier
Napier

8 years
24 years

In St. Augustine's Church, Bowes Street, Napier

03/1986

9 April 1903

Rev. E. L. Juke

No	32
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Johnston	Katherine Muriel Balfour
	💍 1903/2398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In St. Augustine's Church, Bowes Street, Napier
Folio	03/1986
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. L. Juke

9 April 1903

William Henry Young
Lily Ethel Anderson

William Henry Young
Lily Ethel Anderson
💍 1903/3164

Bachelor
Spinster

Lamplighter
Domestic

25
21

Napier
Napier

12 years
21 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

03/1956

9 April 1903

John Burden, Registrar

No	33
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Young	Lily Ethel Anderson
	💍 1903/3164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lamplighter	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	12 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	03/1956
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar

11 April 1903

James Robert Gillespie
Elenor Mary Parsons

James Robert Gillespie
Elenor Mary Parson
💍 1903/2394

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

29
23

Hastings
Napier

6 months
23 years

In the House of Mrs. Parsons, H.B.

03/1974

11 April 1903

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	34
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robert Gillespie	Elenor Mary Parsons
BDM Match (97%)	James Robert Gillespie	Elenor Mary Parson
	💍 1903/2394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	23 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs. Parsons, H.B.
Folio	03/1974
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

11 April 1903

Adam Clarke Rowse
Henrietta Jane Dakin

Adam Clarke Rouse
Henrietta Jane Dakin
💍 1903/2431

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Domestic duties

39
28

Napier
Carterton

3 months
28 years

In the Methodist Church, Carterton

03/2018

11 April 1903

Rev. J. J. Pendray

No	35
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Clarke Rowse	Henrietta Jane Dakin
BDM Match (97%)	Adam Clarke Rouse	Henrietta Jane Dakin
	💍 1903/2431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Domestic duties
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Carterton
Length of Residence	3 months	28 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Carterton
Folio	03/2018
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Pendray

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).