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 1229

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 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

276

27 April 1903

Barnard Clarkson Shepherd
Nell Lousley

Barnard Clarkson Shepherd
Nell Linsley
💍 1903/2627

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

36
29

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
2 years

St. John's Methodist Church, Ponsonby

03/2334

27 April 1903

Rev. K. Ready, Methodist

No	276
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barnard Clarkson Shepherd	Nell Lousley
BDM Match (92%)	Barnard Clarkson Shepherd	Nell Linsley
	💍 1903/2627
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Methodist Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/2334
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. Ready, Methodist

277

27 April 1903

Osborn Bratt Vickers Stevens
Sarah Rogerson Jones

Osborne Pratt Wikers Stevens
Sarah Rogers Jones
💍 1903/2150

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
37

Panmure
Mount Eden

3 years

Congregational Church

03/1673

27 April 1903

Rev. W. Day, Congregational

No	277
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Osborn Bratt Vickers Stevens	Sarah Rogerson Jones
BDM Match (88%)	Osborne Pratt Wikers Stevens	Sarah Rogers Jones
	💍 1903/2150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Panmure	Mount Eden
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church
Folio	03/1673
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Day, Congregational

278

24 April 1903

Thomas Ernest Thort
Nesta Corbett

Thomas Ernest Short
Nesta Corbett
💍 1903/1240

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
28

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
10 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

03/2357

27 April 1903

Rev. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

No	278
Date of Notice	24 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ernest Thort	Nesta Corbett
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Ernest Short	Nesta Corbett
	💍 1903/1240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/2357
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

279

27 April 1903

Willoughby Ashbury Brassey
France Irene Atkins

Willoughby Ashbarson Brassey
Frances Maude Atkins
💍 1903/1241

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
26

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
25 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

03/2358

27 April 1903

Rev. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

No	279
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willoughby Ashbury Brassey	France Irene Atkins
BDM Match (80%)	Willoughby Ashbarson Brassey	Frances Maude Atkins
	💍 1903/1241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/2358
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

280

27 April 1903

George Robert Peterson
Edith Lizzie Golding

George Robert Peterson
Edith Lizzie Golding
💍 1903/41

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

22
24

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
24 years

House & Basque Road, Church of Christ

03/1680

27 April 1903

Rev. S. Eldridge, Church of Christ

No	280
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Peterson	Edith Lizzie Golding
	💍 1903/41
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House & Basque Road, Church of Christ
Folio	03/1680
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Eldridge, Church of Christ

281

27 April 1903

Herbert John Oldham
Ellen Adeline Henwood

Herbert John Oldham
Ellen Adeline Henwood
💍 1903/2054

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
25

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
20 years

Church of England, Sunnyere

03/1576

27 April 1903

Rev. S. Kirkbride, Church of England

No	281
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Oldham	Ellen Adeline Henwood
	💍 1903/2054
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Sunnyere
Folio	03/1576
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Kirkbride, 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).