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 1117

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 1903

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

892

30 December 1903

William Thomas Morey
Elizabeth Burgess

William Thomas Morey
Elizabeth Kurgefs
💍 1904/3451

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

23
24

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
4 years

St. Thomas Church, Auckland

04/1012

30 December 1903

Rev. N. M. Du Rieu, Church of England

No	892
Date of Notice	30 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Morey	Elizabeth Burgess
BDM Match (94%)	William Thomas Morey	Elizabeth Kurgefs
	💍 1904/3451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Auckland
Folio	04/1012
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. M. Du Rieu, Church of England

893

30 December 1903

Joseph Thomas Collicott
Lilian Marion Mansell

Joseph Thomas Collicoat
Lilian Marian Mansell
💍 1904/3098

Bachelor
Spinster

Rope Maker

24
24

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
4 years

House of Father of Bridegroom, Ponsonby

04/189

30 December 1903

Rev. L. P. Cotter, Primitive Methodist

No	893
Date of Notice	30 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Thomas Collicott	Lilian Marion Mansell
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Thomas Collicoat	Lilian Marian Mansell
	💍 1904/3098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rope Maker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bridegroom, Ponsonby
Folio	04/189
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. P. Cotter, Primitive Methodist

894

31 December 1903

Frederick John Pemberton
Edith Florence Provis

Frederick John Pemberton
Edith Florence Provis
💍 1903/5253

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder

25
21

Auckland
Auckland

10 months
3 months

Methodist Church, Ponsonby

03/5099

31 December 1903

Rev. W. C. Littos, Methodist

No	894
Date of Notice	31 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Pemberton	Edith Florence Provis
	💍 1903/5253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/5099
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Littos, Methodist

895

31 December 1903

Samuel Galbraith
Grace Smith Russell Peat

Samuel Galbraith
Grace Smith Russel Peat
💍 1904/2802

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

28
29

Auckland
Auckland

28 years
10 years

House of Father of Bridegroom, Gundry St.

04/1214

31 December 1903

Rev. A. L. Napier, Presbyterian

No	895
Date of Notice	31 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Galbraith	Grace Smith Russell Peat
BDM Match (98%)	Samuel Galbraith	Grace Smith Russel Peat
	💍 1904/2802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bridegroom, Gundry St.
Folio	04/1214
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Napier, Presbyterian

896

31 December 1903

Norman Somerfield
Eliza Mary McWilliams

Norman Somerfield
Eliza Mary McWilliams
💍 1904/3423

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
21

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
8 years

St. Barnabas Church, Mt. Eden

04/90

31 December 1903

Rev. G. J. McEllard, Church of England

No	896
Date of Notice	31 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Somerfield	Eliza Mary McWilliams
	💍 1904/3423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Mt. Eden
Folio	04/90
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. McEllard, Church of England

897

31 December 1903

James Ernest Hensen
Emma Hollis

James Ernest Hensen
Emma Hollis
💍 1904/2796

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
25

Auckland
Auckland

30 years
20 years

St. Andrews Church, Auckland

04/141

31 December 1903

Rev. A. Norrie, Presbyterian

No	897
Date of Notice	31 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ernest Hensen	Emma Hollis
	💍 1904/2796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Auckland
Folio	04/141
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Norrie, Presbyterian

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).