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 767

District of Teawamutu Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar John Philp Tause

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

8 January 1903

James Richd Flay
Martha Thompson

James Richard Flay
Agnes Martha Thompson
💍 1903/483

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer

26
27

Rata Road
Te Rahu

4 years
27 years

Presbyterian Church at Teawamutu

03/261

6 February 1903

Saml. W. Extrican, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richd Flay	Martha Thompson
BDM Match (80%)	James Richard Flay	Agnes Martha Thompson
	💍 1903/483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Rata Road	Te Rahu
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Teawamutu
Folio	03/261
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Saml. W. Extrican, Presbyterian

27 January 1903

Augustus Mison Scott
Mary Edwards

Agustus Nixon Scott
Mary Edwards
💍 1903/484

Widower
Spinster

School Teacher

36
31

Karangahake
Karangahake

6 years
2 years

Catholic Church at Thames

03/262

27 January 1903

Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	27 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Mison Scott	Mary Edwards
BDM Match (93%)	Agustus Nixon Scott	Mary Edwards
	💍 1903/484
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Karangahake	Karangahake
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church at Thames
Folio	03/262
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

9 February 1903

Richmond Double Meredith
Isabel Mary Corboy

Richmond Double Meredith
Isabel Mary Corboy
💍 1903/468

Bachelor
Spinster

Rabbitter

21
21

Kihikihi
Kihikihi

4 years
21 years

Residence of Mr Douglas Meredith at Kihikihi

03/263

9 February 1903

Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	9 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richmond Double Meredith	Isabel Mary Corboy
	💍 1903/468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rabbitter
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Kihikihi	Kihikihi
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Douglas Meredith at Kihikihi
Folio	03/263
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

16 February 1903

Arthur Edwd Harris
Cornelia Mary Mabel Cotton Grace

Arthur Edward Harris
Cormelia Mabel Grace
💍 1903/3108

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
18

Arongia
Arongia

2 months
6 years

Catholic Church at Kihikihi

03/264

Grace, John Tu, Father

16 February 1903

Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edwd Harris	Cornelia Mary Mabel Cotton Grace
BDM Match (75%)	Arthur Edward Harris	Cormelia Mabel Grace
	💍 1903/3108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Arongia	Arongia
Length of Residence	2 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church at Kihikihi
Folio	03/264
Consent	Grace, John Tu, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Martin A O'Farroll, Roman Catholic

18 March 1903

James Alister Stewart McHeron Clark
Alice Bell

James Alister Stewart McPherson Clark
Alice Bell
💍 1903/3446

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
19

Mangapiko
Mangapiko

3 years
8 years

Residence of Mr Henry Bell at Mangapiko

03/3520

Bell, Henry, Father

18 March 1903

Chas Twerlow, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	18 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alister Stewart McHeron Clark	Alice Bell
BDM Match (96%)	James Alister Stewart McPherson Clark	Alice Bell
	💍 1903/3446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Mangapiko	Mangapiko
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Henry Bell at Mangapiko
Folio	03/3520
Consent	Bell, Henry, Father
Date of Certificate	18 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Chas Twerlow, 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).