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 889

District of Ohinemuri Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar John Browne

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

3 January 1903

Thomas Kneebone
Lavinia Bassett

Thomas Kneebone
Lavinia Barrett
💍 1903/660

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

27
25

Komata
Komata

2 years
4 days

Mr Kneebone's dwelling Komata

03/234

3 January 1903

J P Cowie, Paeroa

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Kneebone	Lavinia Bassett
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas Kneebone	Lavinia Barrett
	💍 1903/660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Komata	Komata
Length of Residence	2 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Mr Kneebone's dwelling Komata
Folio	03/234
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1903
Officiating Minister	J P Cowie, Paeroa

13 February 1903

Archibald Douglas Reid
Catherine Mary Gable

Archibald Douglas Reid
Catherine Mary Noble
💍 1903/463

Bachelor
Spinster

Batteryhand

25
24

Karangahake
Karangahake

20 years
20 years

Bensweto Catholic Church Karangahake

03/247

13 February 1903

Dean Hackett, Paeroa

No	2
Date of Notice	13 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Douglas Reid	Catherine Mary Gable
BDM Match (95%)	Archibald Douglas Reid	Catherine Mary Noble
	💍 1903/463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Batteryhand
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Karangahake	Karangahake
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Bensweto Catholic Church Karangahake
Folio	03/247
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Dean Hackett, Paeroa

18 February 1903

John Wm H. Smith
Marion McGruer

John William Nelson Smith
Marion McGruer
💍 1903/661

Bachelor
Spinster

Bacon curer

27
27

Auckland
Karangahake

27 years
7 years

Dwelling of F. H. McGruer Karangahake

03/235

18 February 1903

J. P. Cowie, Paeroa

No	3
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wm H. Smith	Marion McGruer
BDM Match (78%)	John William Nelson Smith	Marion McGruer
	💍 1903/661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bacon curer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Karangahake
Length of Residence	27 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of F. H. McGruer Karangahake
Folio	03/235
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	J. P. Cowie, Paeroa

25 February 1903

George Arthur Bush
Catherine Mary Moore

George Arthur Bush
Catherine Margaret Moore
💍 1903/662

Bachelor
Spinster

Batteryhand

23
18

Karangahake
Mackaytown

5 years
2 years

Mrs Albert Moore's dwelling Mackaytown

03/236

Albert P. Moore, Father

25 February 1903

J P Cowie, Paeroa

No	4
Date of Notice	25 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Bush	Catherine Mary Moore
BDM Match (90%)	George Arthur Bush	Catherine Margaret Moore
	💍 1903/662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Batteryhand
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Karangahake	Mackaytown
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Mrs Albert Moore's dwelling Mackaytown
Folio	03/236
Consent	Albert P. Moore, Father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1903
Officiating Minister	J P Cowie, Paeroa

27 February 1903

Arthur Ernest Snaith
Maud Mason

Arthur Ernest Snaith
Maud Mason
💍 1903/461

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

32
31

Paeroa
Thames

15 months
31 years

Regr's Office Paeroa

03/240

27 February 1903

Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	27 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Snaith	Maud Mason
	💍 1903/461
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Thames
Length of Residence	15 months	31 years
Marriage Place	Regr's Office Paeroa
Folio	03/240
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar

6 March 1903

John Benjamin Morris
Maude Marion Wyatt

John Benjamin Morris
Maude Marion Wyatt
💍 1903/451

Widower
Spinster

Engine Driver
Nurse

41
42

Mackaytown
Mackaytown

5 years
3 months

Church of England Paeroa

03/237

6 March 1903

J P Cowie, Paeroa

No	6
Date of Notice	6 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Benjamin Morris	Maude Marion Wyatt
	💍 1903/451
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Nurse
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Mackaytown	Mackaytown
Length of Residence	5 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Paeroa
Folio	03/237
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1903
Officiating Minister	J P Cowie, Paeroa

10 March 1903

John Edwin Hunt
Edith Dora C. McAndrew

John Edwin Hunt
Edith Dora Christian McAndrew
💍 1903/459

Bachelor
Widow

Coach Builder

29
26

Paeroa
Paeroa

8 years
20 years

Mrs A. Moore Mackaytown

03/238

10 March 1903

J P Cowie, Paeroa

No	7
Date of Notice	10 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwin Hunt	Edith Dora C. McAndrew
BDM Match (86%)	John Edwin Hunt	Edith Dora Christian McAndrew
	💍 1903/459
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Paeroa
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Mrs A. Moore Mackaytown
Folio	03/238
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1903
Officiating Minister	J P Cowie, Paeroa

29 January 1903

William Smith
Betzy Erskine McFarlane

William Smith
Betzy Erskine McFarlane
💍 1903/3429

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Tailoress

39
28

Waiatakake
Auckland

39 years
5 years

Mrs Ireland's house Paeroa

03/3527

1 February 1903

Wm D Thompson, Thames

No	28
Date of Notice	29 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Betzy Erskine McFarlane
	💍 1903/3429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Tailoress
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Waiatakake	Auckland
Length of Residence	39 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Mrs Ireland's house Paeroa
Folio	03/3527
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm D Thompson, Thames

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).