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 754

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar E. A. Honiss

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

18 April 1903

David Brown Laurie
Rosina Phyllis Bruce

David Brown Laurie
Rosina Phyllis Bruce
💍 1903/2259

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery Hand
Dressmaker

26
23

Thames
Thames

26 years
23 years

The Dwelling of Martha Bruce, Karaka Road

03/1788

18 April 1903

Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	18 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Brown Laurie	Rosina Phyllis Bruce
	💍 1903/2259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery Hand	Dressmaker
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Martha Bruce, Karaka Road
Folio	03/1788
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

25 April 1903

Alfred Leslie Trent
Rose Mary Childerhouse

Alfred Leslie Trent
Rose May Childerhouse
💍 1903/2253

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

25
20

Thames
Thames

6 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Mrs. Childerhouse, Karaka Creek

03/1783

Mary Childerhouse, mother

28 April 1903

Rev. E. D. Drake, Primitive Methodist

No	19
Date of Notice	25 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Leslie Trent	Rose Mary Childerhouse
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Leslie Trent	Rose May Childerhouse
	💍 1903/2253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mrs. Childerhouse, Karaka Creek
Folio	03/1783
Consent	Mary Childerhouse, mother
Date of Certificate	28 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Drake, Primitive Methodist

25 April 1903

William Bennett McGregor
Mary Dunn

William Bennet McGregor
Mary Dunn
💍 1903/3178

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
None

25
24

Turua
Thames

6 months
24 years

The Dwelling of Annie Rattray, Richmond St., Thames

03/1789

25 April 1903

Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	25 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bennett McGregor	Mary Dunn
BDM Match (98%)	William Bennet McGregor	Mary Dunn
	💍 1903/3178
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	None
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Turua	Thames
Length of Residence	6 months	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Annie Rattray, Richmond St., Thames
Folio	03/1789
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

4 May 1903

Thomas French
Ada Payne

Thomas French
Ada Payne
💍 1903/2261

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman
None

26
25

Thames
Thames

3 days
25 years

The Dwelling of William Payne, Willoughby St., Thames

03/1791

4 May 1903

Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	4 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas French	Ada Payne
	💍 1903/2261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman	None
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William Payne, Willoughby St., Thames
Folio	03/1791
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

26 May 1903

Alexander Connon Newdick
Rose Evelyn Smith

Alexander Connon Newdick
Rose Evelyn Smith
💍 1903/2262

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

22
19

Thames
Thames

22 years
19 years

St. George's Church, Thames

03/1792

Charles Smith, father

26 May 1903

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	26 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Connon Newdick	Rose Evelyn Smith
	💍 1903/2262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	03/1792
Consent	Charles Smith, father
Date of Certificate	26 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

2 June 1903

William Henry Emett
Lottie Primrose James

William Henry Emett
Lottie Primrose James
💍 1903/2250

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant
None

28
20

Thames
Thames

3 days
20 years

The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Jaram Road, Thames

03/1780

Harriet Smith, mother

2 June 1903

Rev. T. A. Williams, Baptist

No	23
Date of Notice	2 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Emett	Lottie Primrose James
	💍 1903/2250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant	None
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Jaram Road, Thames
Folio	03/1780
Consent	Harriet Smith, mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Williams, Baptist

8 June 1903

Isaac Holden
Olive Lomas

Isaac Holden
Olive Lomas
💍 1903/2260

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
None

29
24

Kopu, Thames
Thames

20 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Alfred Lomas, Beach Road, Thames

03/1790

8 June 1903

Henry Harvey Taylor, Church of Christ

No	24
Date of Notice	8 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Holden	Olive Lomas
	💍 1903/2260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Kopu, Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Alfred Lomas, Beach Road, Thames
Folio	03/1790
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Henry Harvey Taylor, Church of Christ

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).