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 1276

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 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

7 January 1903

Richard Shepherd Rowe
Emma Constance Davis

Richard Shepherd Rowe
Emma Constance Davis
💍 1903/545

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

41
37

Auckland
Auckland

27 years
17 years

Registrar's Office

03/3

7 January 1903

E. H. Syms, Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	7 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Shepherd Rowe	Emma Constance Davis
	💍 1903/545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	41	37
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	03/3
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	E. H. Syms, Registrar

8 January 1903

Arthur Richard Spencer
Florence Annie Cross

Arthur Richard Spencer
Florence Annie Cross
💍 1903/606

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

22
19

Auckland
Remuera

4 weeks
1 year

House of Father of Bride, Remuera

03/154

Richard Cross, Father of Bride

8 January 1903

Rev. J. J. Pinfold, Methodist

No	20
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Richard Spencer	Florence Annie Cross
	💍 1903/606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	4 weeks	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Remuera
Folio	03/154
Consent	Richard Cross, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	8 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Pinfold, Methodist

8 January 1903

Samuel William Taylor
Mary Alice Haslett

Samuel William Taylor
Mary Alice Haslett
💍 1903/1553

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker

24
25

Auckland
Mt Albert

18 years
4 years

House of Father of Bride, Mt Albert

03/166

S. Haslett, Father of Bride

8 January 1903

Rev. J. B. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel William Taylor	Mary Alice Haslett
	💍 1903/1553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mt Albert
Length of Residence	18 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Mt Albert
Folio	03/166
Consent	S. Haslett, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	8 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Robertson, Presbyterian

9 January 1903

David Stuart
Anne Phoebe Quinn

David Stuart
Phoebe Anne Quin
💍 1903/615

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
29

Auckland
South Auckland

10 weeks
8 months

St Patrick's Cathedral, South Auckland

03/140

9 January 1903

Rev. C. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

No	22
Date of Notice	9 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Stuart	Anne Phoebe Quinn
BDM Match (71%)	David Stuart	Phoebe Anne Quin
	💍 1903/615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	South Auckland
Length of Residence	10 weeks	8 months
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Cathedral, South Auckland
Folio	03/140
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

9 January 1903

Frederick William Stone
Edith Mabel May Gribble

Frederick William Stone
Edith Mabel May Gribble
💍 1903/607

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

26
24

Auckland
New Zealand

12 years
24 years

Wesleyan Church, New Zealand

03/155

9 January 1903

Rev. J. Griffiths, Methodist

No	23
Date of Notice	9 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Stone	Edith Mabel May Gribble
	💍 1903/607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	New Zealand
Length of Residence	12 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, New Zealand
Folio	03/155
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Griffiths, Methodist

10 January 1903

George Henry Brown
Elizabeth Collins

George Henry Brown
Elizabeth Collins
💍 1903/584

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
22

Auckland
Onehunga

15 years
1 week

Church of England, Onehunga

03/96

10 January 1903

Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

No	24
Date of Notice	10 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Brown	Elizabeth Collins
	💍 1903/584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	15 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Church of England, Onehunga
Folio	03/96
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Haselden, 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).