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 1175

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 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

582

15 September 1903

Wilfard Milnes
Caterine Fortunate Turche

Wilfred Milnes
Catherine Fortunata Turchi
💍 1903/3417

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

29
28

Auckland

4 years
1 year

Home of Rev. J. S. Smith, St. Heliers

03/3416

15 September 1903

Rev. J. S. Smith, Methodist

No	582
Date of Notice	15 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfard Milnes	Caterine Fortunate Turche
BDM Match (87%)	Wilfred Milnes	Catherine Fortunata Turchi
	💍 1903/3417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. J. S. Smith, St. Heliers
Folio	03/3416
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Smith, Methodist

583

15 September 1903

John Bilich
(Commonly King as White)
Louise Sophia Johanna Rohde

John White
Louise Sophie Johanna Rohde
💍 1903/3385

Bachelor
Spinster

Boarding House Keeper

35
37

Auckland

5 years
5 years

Registrar's Office

03/3355

15 September 1903

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	583
Date of Notice	15 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bilich (Commonly King as White)	Louise Sophia Johanna Rohde
BDM Match (75%)	John White	Louise Sophie Johanna Rohde
	💍 1903/3385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boarding House Keeper
Age	35	37
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	03/3355
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1903
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

584

15 September 1903

Alexander Esdale
Elizabeth Allcock

Alexander Esdale
Elizabeth Allcock
💍 1903/3579

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
19

Auckland

23 years
19 years

Home of Rev. J. W. News, Arch Hill

03/3693

Father

15 September 1903

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	584
Date of Notice	15 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Esdale	Elizabeth Allcock
	💍 1903/3579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. J. W. News, Arch Hill
Folio	03/3693
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	15 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

585

16 September 1903

Albert Gordon Murray
Clara Frances Eyre

Albert Gordon Murray
Clara Frances Eyre
💍 1903/3412

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

26
22

Auckland

26 years
22 years

Home of Rev. W. S. Potter, Birkenhead

03/3434

16 September 1903

Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	585
Date of Notice	16 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Gordon Murray	Clara Frances Eyre
	💍 1903/3412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. W. S. Potter, Birkenhead
Folio	03/3434
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

586

17 September 1903

William Jones
Elizabeth Ann Bartalle Jones

William Jones
Elizabeth Ann Bastable Jones
💍 1903/4310

Bachelor
Spinster

News Vendor

37
25

Auckland

37 years
10 years

Home of Rev. J. J. Thomas, Arch Hill

03/4047

17 September 1903

Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist

No	586
Date of Notice	17 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jones	Elizabeth Ann Bartalle Jones
BDM Match (96%)	William Jones	Elizabeth Ann Bastable Jones
	💍 1903/4310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	News Vendor
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	37 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. J. J. Thomas, Arch Hill
Folio	03/4047
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist

587

17 September 1903

Harold Bishop
Agnes Isabella Sim McEwan

Harold Bishop
Agnes Isabella Sim McEwan
💍 1903/3414

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
23

Auckland

19 years
19 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Eden Terrace

03/3436

17 September 1903

Rev. S. W. Smailes, Primitive Methodist

No	587
Date of Notice	17 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Bishop	Agnes Isabella Sim McEwan
	💍 1903/3414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	19 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Eden Terrace
Folio	03/3436
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Smailes, Primitive Methodist

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).