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 1200

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 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

444

3 July 1903

Francis Richard Pope
Eleanor Mary Jones

Francis Richard Pope
Eleanor Mary Jones
💍 1903/3957

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

26
25

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
11 months

St Mary's Cathedral, Parnell

03/3363

3 July 1903

Rev. J. Shackurray, Church of England

No	444
Date of Notice	3 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Richard Pope	Eleanor Mary Jones
	💍 1903/3957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	11 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Cathedral, Parnell
Folio	03/3363
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Shackurray, Church of England

445

3 July 1903

Robert Barnes
Mary Miller

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
28

Auckland
Onehunga

35 years
28 years

House of the Bride, Onehunga

03/3409

3 July 1903

Very Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

No	445
Date of Notice	3 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Barnes	Mary Miller
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	35 years	28 years
Marriage Place	House of the Bride, Onehunga
Folio	03/3409
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

446

6 July 1903

James Savory
Alice Maud Searrah

James Savory
Alice Maud Scurrah
💍 1903/3516

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
24

Auckland
Auckland

23 years
15 years

St James' Manse, Auckland

03/3388

6 July 1903

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	446
Date of Notice	6 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Savory	Alice Maud Searrah
BDM Match (94%)	James Savory	Alice Maud Scurrah
	💍 1903/3516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St James' Manse, Auckland
Folio	03/3388
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

447

6 July 1903

John McLeod
Martha Boden

John McLeod
Martha Boden
💍 1903/4036

Divorced
Spinster

Engineer

44
27

Auckland
Auckland

44 years
40 days

St Andrew's Manse, Auckland

03/3545

6 July 1903

Rev. H. D. Gray, Presbyterian

No	447
Date of Notice	6 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McLeod	Martha Boden
	💍 1903/4036
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	44	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	44 years	40 days
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Manse, Auckland
Folio	03/3545
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Gray, Presbyterian

448

7 July 1903

Frank Julian Hansen
Justa Eversen

Frank Julian Hansen
Justa Eversen
💍 1903/3421

Widower
Widow

Labourer

62
40

Auckland
Auckland

31 years
16 years

House of G. Graham, 16 Graham Street

03/3470

7 July 1903

Rev. J. Benning, Free Methodist

No	448
Date of Notice	7 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Julian Hansen	Justa Eversen
	💍 1903/3421
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	62	40
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	31 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of G. Graham, 16 Graham Street
Folio	03/3470
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Benning, Free Methodist

449

7 July 1903

Thomas McFarlane
Dorothy Isabel Gresham

Thomas McFarlane
Dorothy Isabel Gresham
💍 1903/3940

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

27
26

Auckland
Auckland

7 years
2 years

St Paul's Church, Auckland

03/3369

7 July 1903

Rev. F. Latter, Church of England

No	449
Date of Notice	7 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McFarlane	Dorothy Isabel Gresham
	💍 1903/3940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	03/3369
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Latter, Church of England

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).