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 1063

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Joseph Alexander Johnstone

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

1360

13 February 1903

John Valentine Scott
Christina Hird

John Valentine Scott
Christina Hird
💍 1903/627

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

27
23

Gisborne
Ormond

11 months
all her life

The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

03/201

13 February 1903

Reg. Mar. Gis.

No	1360
Date of Notice	13 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Valentine Scott	Christina Hird
	💍 1903/627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Ormond
Length of Residence	11 months	all her life
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	03/201
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Reg. Mar. Gis.

1361

16 February 1903

John Douglas Brown
Alice Emily Brown

John Douglas
Alice Emily Brown
💍 1903/646

Bachelor
Spinster

Packer
Domestic servant

29
26

Goldcreek, Poverty Bay
Whataupoko, Poverty Bay

5 years
all her life

St. Mary's, Roman Catholic Church Gisborne

03/212

16 February 1903

Rev. Thos Mulvihill Roman Catholic

No	1361
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Douglas Brown	Alice Emily Brown
BDM Match (83%)	John Douglas	Alice Emily Brown
	💍 1903/646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Packer	Domestic servant
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Goldcreek, Poverty Bay	Whataupoko, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	5 years	all her life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's, Roman Catholic Church Gisborne
Folio	03/212
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Mulvihill Roman Catholic

1362

21 February 1903

John Gregory
Elizabeth Flint

John Gregory
Elizabeth Flint
💍 1903/3899

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

27
30

Gisborne
Gisborne

9 months
3 weeks

Res. of Rev. J. G. Paterson Gisborne

03/3289

21 February 1903

Rev Jas G. Paterson Presbyterian

No	1362
Date of Notice	21 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gregory	Elizabeth Flint
	💍 1903/3899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	9 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Res. of Rev. J. G. Paterson Gisborne
Folio	03/3289
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev Jas G. Paterson Presbyterian

1363

James Whiting
Nellie Belcher

James Whiting
Nellie Belcher
💍 1903/628

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

30
37

Gisborne
Gisborne

10 months
12 weeks

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

03/202

21 February 1903

Reg. Mar. Gisborne

No	1363
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Whiting	Nellie Belcher
	💍 1903/628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	30	37
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	10 months	12 weeks
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	03/202
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Reg. Mar. Gisborne

1364

5 March 1903

Kenneth Henry Humphreys
Eva Jane Craig

Kenneth Henry Humphreys
Eva Jane Craig
💍 1903/666

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

27
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

15 months
all her life

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

03/217

5 March 1903

Rev. Walter Welsh Church of England

No	1364
Date of Notice	5 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Henry Humphreys	Eva Jane Craig
	💍 1903/666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	15 months	all her life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	03/217
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walter Welsh Church of England

1365

9 March 1903

William Kennedy
Jane Pollock Clark

William Kennedy
Jane Pollock Clark
💍 1903/1344

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23
21

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 months
5 days

Res. of Mr W. F. Morrison, Carnarvon St. Gisborne

03/3290

9 March 1903

Rev Jas G. Paterson Presbyterian

No	1365
Date of Notice	9 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kennedy	Jane Pollock Clark
	💍 1903/1344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Res. of Mr W. F. Morrison, Carnarvon St. Gisborne
Folio	03/3290
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev Jas G. Paterson Presbyterian

1366

11 March 1903

Frank Pattullo
Maud Sherratt

Frank Pattullo
Maud Sherratt
💍 1903/634

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

30
24

Rangatira, Poverty Bay
Pouparae, Poverty Bay

2 1/2 years
20 years

Native Church, Te Arai, Poverty Bay

03/207

11 March 1903

Rev. Herbert Williams Church of England

No	1366
Date of Notice	11 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Pattullo	Maud Sherratt
	💍 1903/634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Rangatira, Poverty Bay	Pouparae, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Native Church, Te Arai, Poverty Bay
Folio	03/207
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Herbert Williams 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).