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 750

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar William Ross

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

14 August 1903

Henry William Lloyd
Annie Elizabeth Cordes

Henry William Lloyd
Annie Elizabeth Cordes
💍 1903/3431

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

32
34

Thames
Thames

4 years 3 days
23 years

St. Georges Church, Thames

03/3529

14 August 1903

Rev. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	14 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Lloyd	Annie Elizabeth Cordes
	💍 1903/3431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years 3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Georges Church, Thames
Folio	03/3529
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. O'Callaghan, Church of England

14 August 1903

Albert Edward Bidlake
Edith May Hawkes

Albert Ebenezer Bidlake
Edith May Hawkes
💍 1903/3432

Bachelor
Spinster

Sub-manager
None

30
23

Waiomu
Thames

3 years
23 years

St. Georges Church, Thames

03/3530

14 August 1903

Rev. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	30
Date of Notice	14 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Bidlake	Edith May Hawkes
BDM Match (85%)	Albert Ebenezer Bidlake	Edith May Hawkes
	💍 1903/3432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sub-manager	None
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Waiomu	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Georges Church, Thames
Folio	03/3530
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. O'Callaghan, Church of England

18 August 1903

Joseph Henry James
Dora Vere McGarvie

Joseph Henry James
Dora Vere McGarvie
💍 1903/3425

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

26
25

Thames
Thames

26 years
25 years

The Dwelling of Mr. McGarvie, Pollen Street, Thames

03/3523

18 August 1903

Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan Methodist

No	31
Date of Notice	18 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry James	Dora Vere McGarvie
	💍 1903/3425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	25 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr. McGarvie, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	03/3523
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan Methodist

31 August 1903

David Thomson
Ellen Arms

David Thomson
Ellen Arns
💍 1903/3426

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Home

26
24

Thames
Thames

26 years
24 years

The Dwelling house of Frederick Arms, Davey Street, Thames

03/3524

31 August 1903

B. L. Taylor, Church of Christ

No	32
Date of Notice	31 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Thomson	Ellen Arms
BDM Match (95%)	David Thomson	Ellen Arns
	💍 1903/3426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Home
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling house of Frederick Arms, Davey Street, Thames
Folio	03/3524
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1903
Officiating Minister	B. L. Taylor, Church of Christ

5 September 1903

John Reginald Muir
Fanny Catran

John Reginald Muir
Fanny Catran
💍 1903/5902

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Home

27
25

Thames
Thames

27 years
27 years

St. James Presbyterian Church, Thames

03/5735

5 September 1903

Rev. G. Dixon, Presbyterian Church

No	33
Date of Notice	5 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reginald Muir	Fanny Catran
	💍 1903/5902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Home
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. James Presbyterian Church, Thames
Folio	03/5735
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Dixon, Presbyterian Church

14 September 1903

Henry Windsor Knight
Irene May Landy

Harry Windsor Knight
Irene May Landy
💍 1903/3427

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
None

30
20

Auckland
Thames

5 years
20 years

Wesleyan Church, Pollen Street, Thames

03/3525

Sarah Ann Ramey, formerly Landy, now Wilde, mother of bride

14 September 1903

Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan Methodist Church

No	34
Date of Notice	14 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Windsor Knight	Irene May Landy
BDM Match (95%)	Harry Windsor Knight	Irene May Landy
	💍 1903/3427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	None
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	03/3525
Consent	Sarah Ann Ramey, formerly Landy, now Wilde, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	14 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan Methodist Church

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).