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 751

District of Thames Quarter ending 1 April 1903 to 12 August 1903 Registrar Edward Homiss

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

2 June 1903

William Henry Emett
Lottie Primrose James

William Henry Emett
Lottie Primrose James
💍 1903/2250

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant
None

28
20

Thames
Thames

3 days
20 years

The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Parawai Road

Harriett Smith, Mother

2 June 1903

Revd J. A. Williams, Baptist

No	23
Date of Notice	2 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Emett	Lottie Primrose James
	💍 1903/2250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant	None
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Parawai Road
Folio
Consent	Harriett Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd J. A. Williams, Baptist

8 June 1903

Isaac Holden
Olive Lomas

Isaac Holden
Olive Lomas
💍 1903/2260

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
None

29
24

Kopu, Thames
Thames

20 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Alfred Lomas, Beach Road, Thames

Alfred Lomas

8 June 1903

Edmund Harvey Taylor, Church of Christ

No	24
Date of Notice	8 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Holden	Olive Lomas
	💍 1903/2260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Kopu, Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Alfred Lomas, Beach Road, Thames
Folio
Consent	Alfred Lomas
Date of Certificate	8 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Edmund Harvey Taylor, Church of Christ

13 June 1903

Robert George Fisher
Mary Margaret Senior

Robert George Fisher
Mary Margaret Senior
💍 1903/2254

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Domestic Servant

21
16

Thames
Thames

21 years
16 years

The Dwelling of Thos Senior, Karaka Creek

Thomas Senior, Father

13 June 1903

Revd E. Drake, Primitive Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	13 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert George Fisher	Mary Margaret Senior
	💍 1903/2254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Domestic Servant
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	16 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thos Senior, Karaka Creek
Folio
Consent	Thomas Senior, Father
Date of Certificate	13 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd E. Drake, Primitive Methodist

19 June 1903

David Dawson Lannan
Rose Ellen Loft

David Dawson Lannan
Rose Ellen Loft
💍 1903/2249

Bachelor
Widow

Mine Manager
Draper

41
33

Paeroa
Thames

6 months
1 month

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

22 June 1903

Edward Homiss, Registrar

No	26
Date of Notice	19 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Dawson Lannan	Rose Ellen Loft
	💍 1903/2249
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mine Manager	Draper
Age	41	33
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Thames
Length of Residence	6 months	1 month
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Edward Homiss, Registrar

4 July 1903

Archibald Henderson
Ivy Violet Dodd

Archibald Henderson
Ivy Violet Dodd
💍 1903/3430

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Drapers Assistant

27
18

Thames
Thames

10 years
16 years

Maori Church, Parawai

03/3528

Levi Lionel Colvin Dodd, Father

4 July 1903

Revd J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	4 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Henderson	Ivy Violet Dodd
	💍 1903/3430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Drapers Assistant
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Maori Church, Parawai
Folio	03/3528
Consent	Levi Lionel Colvin Dodd, Father
Date of Certificate	4 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Revd J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

8 July 1903

Alfred Price
Minnie Emma Cargill

Alfred Price
Minnie Emma Cargill
💍 1903/3424

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

34
15

Puriri
Puriri

6 years
10 years

The office of the Registrar, Thames

03/3522

Robert William Cargill, Father

8 July 1903

Edward Homiss, Registrar

No	28
Date of Notice	8 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Price	Minnie Emma Cargill
	💍 1903/3424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	34	15
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	03/3522
Consent	Robert William Cargill, Father
Date of Certificate	8 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Edward Homiss, Registrar

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).