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 1234

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar Edmund Humphrey 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

246

14 April 1903

John Thomas Carr
Louisa Pranguell

John Thomas Carr
Louisa Prangnell
💍 1903/3013

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

26
21

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
10 years

Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby

03/2906

14 April 1903

Very Rev. D. O. Egan, Roman Catholic

No	246
Date of Notice	14 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Carr	Louisa Pranguell
BDM Match (97%)	John Thomas Carr	Louisa Prangnell
	💍 1903/3013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby
Folio	03/2906
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. D. O. Egan, Roman Catholic

247

15 April 1903

Hugh McIlwain
Hannah Mary Whitten

Hugh McIlwain
Hannah Mary Whitten
💍 1903/2108

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

42
21

Auckland
Auckland

18 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

03/1629

15 April 1903

Rev. J. T. Paterson, Roman Catholic

No	247
Date of Notice	15 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McIlwain	Hannah Mary Whitten
	💍 1903/2108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	42	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	03/1629
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Paterson, Roman Catholic

248

15 April 1903

David Arthur Newsum
Clara Graniger

David Arthur Newsom
Clara Grainger
💍 1903/2118

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

47
35

Auckland
Parnell

19 years
5 years

Home of Registrar

03/1640

15 April 1903

Rev. G. J. Pinfield, Methodist

No	248
Date of Notice	15 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Arthur Newsum	Clara Graniger
BDM Match (90%)	David Arthur Newsom	Clara Grainger
	💍 1903/2118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	47	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	19 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Home of Registrar
Folio	03/1640
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Pinfield, Methodist

249

15 April 1903

Herbert Lewis Meredith
Mabel Letitia Cutler

Herbert Leonard Meredith
Mabel Letitia Cutler
💍 1903/1230

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

25
25

Auckland
Tamaki

13 years
25 years

St. John's College Chapel, Tamaki

03/338

15 April 1903

Rev. H. Carson, Church of England

No	249
Date of Notice	15 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Lewis Meredith	Mabel Letitia Cutler
BDM Match (90%)	Herbert Leonard Meredith	Mabel Letitia Cutler
	💍 1903/1230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Tamaki
Length of Residence	13 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. John's College Chapel, Tamaki
Folio	03/338
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Carson, Church of England

250

15 April 1903

William John Cousins
Elsie Margaret Pierce

William John Cousins
Elsie Margaret Pierce
💍 1903/3156

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

35
28

Auckland
Auckland

35 years
28 years

The Holy Sepulchre Church, Auckland

03/1551

15 April 1903

Rev. S. A. Carver, Church of England

No	250
Date of Notice	15 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Cousins	Elsie Margaret Pierce
	💍 1903/3156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	35 years	28 years
Marriage Place	The Holy Sepulchre Church, Auckland
Folio	03/1551
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. A. Carver, Church of England

251

16 April 1903

Joseph William Reynolds
Mary Ann Hyde

Joseph William Reynolds
Mary Ann Hyde
💍 1903/3151

Bachelor
Widow

Miner

52
53

Auckland
Auckland

12 days
3 years

Registrar's Office

03/1508

16 April 1903

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	251
Date of Notice	16 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Reynolds	Mary Ann Hyde
	💍 1903/3151
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	52	53
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	03/1508
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1903
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).