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 668

District of Hawera Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar James Hopkin Fenwick

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

452

13 January 1903

John Frederick Coster
Annie Oliver

John Frederick Coster
Annie Oliver
💍 1903/496

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

26
23

Waitara
Hawera

4 days
2 1/2 years

Residence of T. Oliver

03/305

13 January 1903

Rev. C. Porter, Hawera

No	452
Date of Notice	13 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Coster	Annie Oliver
	💍 1903/496
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Waitara	Hawera
Length of Residence	4 days	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of T. Oliver
Folio	03/305
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Porter, Hawera

453

13 January 1903

William James Hurley
Alice Amy Hayward

William James Hurley
Alice Amy Hayward
💍 1903/1545

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright

26
23

Stratford
Normanby

4 days
3 years

Residence of Jas. Hayward, Normanby

03/781

13 January 1903

Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

No	453
Date of Notice	13 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hurley	Alice Amy Hayward
	💍 1903/1545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Normanby
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Jas. Hayward, Normanby
Folio	03/781
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

454

20 January 1903

Francis George Baker
Helen Cowper

Francis George Baker
Helen Cowper
💍 1903/1547

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

32
26

Wanganui
Hawera

4 days
26 years

Residence of James Cowper, Hawera

03/783

20 January 1903

Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

No	454
Date of Notice	20 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Baker	Helen Cowper
	💍 1903/1547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Hawera
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Cowper, Hawera
Folio	03/783
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

455

21 January 1903

John Charles Blanchard
Emma Whiting

John Charles Blanchard
Emma Whiting
💍 1903/1546

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
20

Waipuku
Hawera

4 days
20 years

Residence of David Whiting, Hawera

03/782

David Whiting, father

21 January 1903

Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

No	455
Date of Notice	21 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Blanchard	Emma Whiting
	💍 1903/1546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Waipuku	Hawera
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of David Whiting, Hawera
Folio	03/782
Consent	David Whiting, father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ivo E. Bertram, Hawera

456

4 February 1903

Peter Woller
Mary Hunt

Peter Woller
Mary Hunt
💍 1903/485

Bachelor
Spinster

Horsebreaker

21
18

Hawera
Hawera

21 years
18 years

Residence of Charles Hunt, Fraser Road

03/304

Charles Hunt, father

4 February 1903

Rev. R. Haddon, Hawera

No	456
Date of Notice	4 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Woller	Mary Hunt
	💍 1903/485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horsebreaker
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Hawera
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Hunt, Fraser Road
Folio	03/304
Consent	Charles Hunt, father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Haddon, Hawera

457

9 February 1903

Harold Greville
Mabel Harriett Champion

Harold Greville
Mabel Harriet Champion
💍 1903/684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
24

Hawera
Hawera

2 years
1 1/2 years

Church of England Schoolroom

03/300

9 February 1903

Rev. G. A. Jacobs, Hawera

No	457
Date of Notice	9 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Greville	Mabel Harriett Champion
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Greville	Mabel Harriet Champion
	💍 1903/684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Hawera
Length of Residence	2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Schoolroom
Folio	03/300
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. Jacobs, Hawera

458

9 February 1903

George Arnold Grindrod
Ethel May Pacey

George Arnold Grimson
Ethel May Pacey
💍 1903/687

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
23

Hawera
Hawera

7 years
9 years

Methodist Church

03/303

9 February 1903

Rev. Chas. Porter, Hawera

No	458
Date of Notice	9 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arnold Grindrod	Ethel May Pacey
BDM Match (91%)	George Arnold Grimson	Ethel May Pacey
	💍 1903/687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Hawera
Length of Residence	7 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	03/303
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. Porter, Hawera

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).