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 755

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

4 April 1903

Fred Cobb
Mary Delamore

Fred Cobb
Mary Delamore
💍 1903/2251

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
None

22
18

Thames
Thames

22 years
18 years

The Dwelling of Mrs Pickett Bird in Hand Hill

03/1781

Ann Pickett Grandmother & Guardian

8 April 1903

Rev'd E Drake Primitive Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	4 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Cobb	Mary Delamore
	💍 1903/2251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mrs Pickett Bird in Hand Hill
Folio	03/1781
Consent	Ann Pickett Grandmother & Guardian
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd E Drake Primitive Methodist

7 April 1903

Robert Thomas Polkinghorne
Annie Campbell

Robert Thomas Polkinghorne
Annie Campbell
💍 1903/2255

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

24
23

Thames
Thames

3 days
23 years

The Dwelling of Mary Campbell Hill St Block 27

03/1785

7 April 1903

Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Polkinghorne	Annie Campbell
	💍 1903/2255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mary Campbell Hill St Block 27
Folio	03/1785
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

8 April 1903

William McCleary
Susan Fisher

William McCleary
Susan Fisher
💍 1903/2256

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
18

Puriri
Karaka Creek

24 years
18 years

The Dwelling of Peter Fisher Karaka Creek

03/1786

Peter Fisher Father

8 April 1903

Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	8 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McCleary	Susan Fisher
	💍 1903/2256
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Karaka Creek
Length of Residence	24 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Peter Fisher Karaka Creek
Folio	03/1786
Consent	Peter Fisher Father
Date of Certificate	8 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

11 April 1903

William Herrman Riley
Clara Margaret Lang

William Herman Riley
Clara Margaret Lang
💍 1903/2252

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

19
20

Thames
Thames

1 day
20 years

The Dwelling of William R Riley Pahau St Thames

03/1782

William Reader Riley, Father William Lang, Father

13 April 1903

Rev'd E. Drake Primitive Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herrman Riley	Clara Margaret Lang
BDM Match (98%)	William Herman Riley	Clara Margaret Lang
	💍 1903/2252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William R Riley Pahau St Thames
Folio	03/1782
Consent	William Reader Riley, Father William Lang, Father
Date of Certificate	13 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd E. Drake Primitive Methodist

11 April 1903

John Montgomery Davies
Mary Jane Robinson

John Montgomery Davies
Mary Jane Robinson
💍 1903/2258

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
None

33
29

Thames
Thames

33 years
29 years

St James' Church Thames

03/1787

11 April 1903

Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Montgomery Davies	Mary Jane Robinson
	💍 1903/2258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	None
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	33 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St James' Church Thames
Folio	03/1787
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd A D Thomson Presbyterian

14 April 1903

Albert Wishart
Alice Maud Bawden

Albert Wishart
Alice Maud Bawden
💍 1903/3604

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery Hand
None

24
22

Thames
Thames

3 days
22 years

The Wesleyan Church Thames

03/3743

14 April 1903

Rev'd J. J. Smalley Methodist

No	16
Date of Notice	14 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Wishart	Alice Maud Bawden
	💍 1903/3604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery Hand	None
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church Thames
Folio	03/3743
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev'd J. J. Smalley Methodist

14 April 1903

John Blyth
Kate Bennett

John Blyth
Kate Bennett
💍 1903/2248

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
None

47
46

Thames
Thames

1 week
4 months

The Office of the Registrar Thames

03/1778

14 April 1903

Edw'd Honiss Registrar

No	17
Date of Notice	14 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Blyth	Kate Bennett
	💍 1903/2248
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	None
Age	47	46
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 week	4 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Thames
Folio	03/1778
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Edw'd Honiss 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).