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 597

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar S. H. James

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

1 July 1903

David Thomas Wilson
Alice Collingwood

David Thomas Wilson
Alice Collingwood
💍 1903/4786

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
25

Mahoe
Cardiff

16 years
10 years

The Methodist Church at Cardiff

03/1447

1 July 1903

Rev. John Nixon, Primitive Methodist

No	35
Date of Notice	1 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Thomas Wilson	Alice Collingwood
	💍 1903/4786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Mahoe	Cardiff
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Methodist Church at Cardiff
Folio	03/1447
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Nixon, Primitive Methodist

3 July 1903

William Woodney
Bridget Hannah Davis

William Woodney
Bridget Hannah Davis
💍 1903/4044

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
20

Kohuratahi
Kohuratahi

8 years
8 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

03/3604

Tom Davis, father

3 July 1903

Rev. Father P. Greacy, Roman Catholic

No	36
Date of Notice	3 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Woodney	Bridget Hannah Davis
	💍 1903/4044
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Kohuratahi	Kohuratahi
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	03/3604
Consent	Tom Davis, father
Date of Certificate	3 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Greacy, Roman Catholic

8 July 1903

John Ernest Gilliver
Isabella Ellis

John Ernest Gilliver
Isabella Ellis
💍 1903/4046

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
20

Surrey Road
Bird Road

2 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs. E. Ellis, Bird Road, Stratford

03/3606

Elizabeth Ellis, mother

8 July 1903

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	37
Date of Notice	8 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Gilliver	Isabella Ellis
	💍 1903/4046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Surrey Road	Bird Road
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. E. Ellis, Bird Road, Stratford
Folio	03/3606
Consent	Elizabeth Ellis, mother
Date of Certificate	8 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

14 July 1903

Alfred Lendon Brown
Beatrice Harriet Langman

Alfred Lindon Brown
Beatrice Harriet Langman
💍 1903/4312

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

22
21

Stratford
New Plymouth

3 months
21 years

The Anglican Church, Omata

03/4049

14 July 1903

Rev. J. G. Evans, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	14 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Lendon Brown	Beatrice Harriet Langman
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Lindon Brown	Beatrice Harriet Langman
	💍 1903/4312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Stratford	New Plymouth
Length of Residence	3 months	21 years
Marriage Place	The Anglican Church, Omata
Folio	03/4049
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Evans, Church of England

27 July 1903

Benjamin Harrington
Annie Hyde

Benjamin Hammington
Annie Hyde
💍 1903/4040

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
22

Wellington
Wellington

7 years
14 years

The Office of the Registrar, Stratford

03/3600

27 July 1903

S. H. James, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	27 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Harrington	Annie Hyde
BDM Match (95%)	Benjamin Hammington	Annie Hyde
	💍 1903/4040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 years	14 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Stratford
Folio	03/3600
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1903
Officiating Minister	S. H. James, Registrar

28 July 1903

Ernest Alexander Henry Sanson
Lillian Olive Scott

Ernest Alexander Henry Sanson
Lilian Olive Scott
💍 1903/4047

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

27
18

Stratford
Stratford

7 years
3 years

Residence of W. J. Newton, Elston Road, Stratford

03/3607

George Scott, father

28 July 1903

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	40
Date of Notice	28 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Alexander Henry Sanson	Lillian Olive Scott
BDM Match (97%)	Ernest Alexander Henry Sanson	Lilian Olive Scott
	💍 1903/4047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. J. Newton, Elston Road, Stratford
Folio	03/3607
Consent	George Scott, father
Date of Certificate	28 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

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).