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 1242

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

204

3 April 1903

James Henry
Luir Roebuck

James Henry
Luie Roebuck
💍 1903/2091

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

30
18

Auckland
Richmond Road

5 years
10 years

House of Father

03/1593

Mary Roebuck, Mother

3 April 1903

Rev. G. S. Dixon, Presbyterian

No	204
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry	Luir Roebuck
BDM Match (96%)	James Henry	Luie Roebuck
	💍 1903/2091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Richmond Road
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Father
Folio	03/1593
Consent	Mary Roebuck, Mother
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. S. Dixon, Presbyterian

205

3 April 1903

Albert Edward White
May Ray

Albert Edward White
May Ray
💍 1903/2055

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Auckland
Howick

20 years
4 years

All Saints Church

03/1577

3 April 1903

Rev. H. D. Boyes, Church of England

No	205
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward White	May Ray
	💍 1903/2055
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Howick
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	03/1577
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Boyes, Church of England

206

3 April 1903

John Egan
Ida Mary Kelly

John Egan
Ida Mary Kelly
💍 1903/2105

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
26

Auckland
Takapuna

2 years
26 years

Roman Catholic Church

03/1626

3 April 1903

Rev. J. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

No	206
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Egan	Ida Mary Kelly
	💍 1903/2105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Takapuna
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	03/1626
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

207

3 April 1903

Charlton James Walker
Jane Little

Charlton James Walker
Jane Little
💍 1903/2164

Bachelor
Widow

Storeman

37
33

Auckland
Paget Street

15 years
1 year

House of Rev. C. Watt

03/1683

3 April 1903

Rev. C. Watt, Church of Christ

No	207
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charlton James Walker	Jane Little
	💍 1903/2164
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Storeman
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Paget Street
Length of Residence	15 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. Watt
Folio	03/1683
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Watt, Church of Christ

208

3 April 1903

Charles Bailey
Hannah Talbot

Charles Bailey
Hannah Talbot
💍 1903/2068

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

32
30

Auckland
Onehunga

32 years
3 years

Church of England

03/1566

3 April 1903

Rev. J. Harildru, Church of England

No	208
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Bailey	Hannah Talbot
	💍 1903/2068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	32 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	03/1566
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Harildru, Church of England

209

3 April 1903

Robert William Gower
Jennie Thomson Allan

Robert William Gower
Jessie Thomson Allan
💍 1903/2169

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

32
22

Auckland
Vincent Street

8 years
2 years

House of Father

03/1687

3 April 1903

Rev. H. J. Walker, Central Mission

No	209
Date of Notice	3 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Gower	Jennie Thomson Allan
BDM Match (95%)	Robert William Gower	Jessie Thomson Allan
	💍 1903/2169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Vincent Street
Length of Residence	8 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Father
Folio	03/1687
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Walker, Central Mission

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).