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 1267

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Edmund H. Lyons

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

5 February 1903

Noah Cohen
Ethel Louisa Marks

Noah Cohen
Ethel Louisa Marks
💍 1903/1554

Bachelor
Widow

Jeweller

26
23

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
4 years

Jewish Synagogue

03/69

5 February 1903

Rev. S. A. Folkstrin, Hebrew

No	73
Date of Notice	5 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noah Cohen	Ethel Louisa Marks
	💍 1903/1554
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Jeweller
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Jewish Synagogue
Folio	03/69
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. A. Folkstrin, Hebrew

5 February 1903

Theodore Ernest Culpitt
Rose Ann Woodward

Theodore Martin Culpitt
Rose Ann Woodward
💍 1903/3096

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

26
21

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
6 months

St. Matthew's Church

03/51

5 February 1903

Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	74
Date of Notice	5 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theodore Ernest Culpitt	Rose Ann Woodward
BDM Match (87%)	Theodore Martin Culpitt	Rose Ann Woodward
	💍 1903/3096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	03/51
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

5 February 1903

Arthur Herbert Halcomber
Kate Elspeth Clark

Arthur Herbert Halcombe
Kate Elspeth Clark
💍 1903/593

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
23

Auckland
Remuera

3 days
3 years

St. Mark's Church

03/82

5 February 1903

Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

No	75
Date of Notice	5 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Herbert Halcomber	Kate Elspeth Clark
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Herbert Halcombe	Kate Elspeth Clark
	💍 1903/593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church
Folio	03/82
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

6 February 1903

Nicholas Saunders
Mary Ann McKean

Nicholas Saunders
Mary Ann McKean
💍 1903/406

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

28
27

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
4 years

St. Benedict's Church

03/134

6 February 1903

Rev. J. H. Gillam, Roman Catholic

No	76
Date of Notice	6 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Saunders	Mary Ann McKean
	💍 1903/406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	03/134
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Gillam, Roman Catholic

6 February 1903

Charles Stephen Goldsmith
Janet Kirkwood

Charles Stephen Goldsmith
Janet Kirkwood
💍 1903/402

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

25
26

Auckland
Great North Road

2 years
15 years

St. Peter's Church

03/130

6 February 1903

Rev. M. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	77
Date of Notice	6 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stephen Goldsmith	Janet Kirkwood
	💍 1903/402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Great North Road
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	03/130
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Sommerville, Presbyterian

6 February 1903

William McLeod
Mary Jane Heany

William McLeod
Mary Jane Heany
💍 1903/432

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
28

Auckland
Ponsonby

18 years
28 years

St. James' Church

03/114

6 February 1903

Rev. J. F. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	78
Date of Notice	6 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McLeod	Mary Jane Heany
	💍 1903/432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	18 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. James' Church
Folio	03/114
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Robertson, 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).