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 542

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar John Burden

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

13 February 1903

William Frederick Henry Sturm
Elizabeth Matilda Light

William Frederick Henry Sturm
Elizabeth Matilda Light
💍 1903/1375

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

27
25

Napier
Napier

2 years
3 Weeks

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

03/376

13 February 1903

John Burden, Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	13 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Henry Sturm	Elizabeth Matilda Light
	💍 1903/1375
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	3 Weeks
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	03/376
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1903
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar

26 February 1903

Ernest Austen
Helen McBryde

Ernest Austen
Helen McBryde
💍 1903/1397

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
School Teacher

23
19

Napier
Napier

23 years
19 years

In the Methodist Church, Clive Square, Napier

03/399

26 February 1903

Rev. T. H. Beecroft

No	12
Date of Notice	26 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Austen	Helen McBryde
	💍 1903/1397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	School Teacher
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Clive Square, Napier
Folio	03/399
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Beecroft

27 February 1903

Richard Valentine Radford
Mildred Jane

Richard Valentine Radford
Mildred Jane
💍 1903/1398

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

23
19

Napier
Napier

6 months
3 years

In the Residence of the Bride's Parents, Milton Road, Napier

03/400

R. W. Jane, Father

27 February 1903

Rev. H. M. J. Miller

No	13
Date of Notice	27 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Valentine Radford	Mildred Jane
	💍 1903/1398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of the Bride's Parents, Milton Road, Napier
Folio	03/400
Consent	R. W. Jane, Father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. M. J. Miller

4 March 1903

Alexander Christian Ward
Edith Emily Mary Mickle

Alexander Christian Ward
Edith Emily Mary Mickle
💍 1903/1388

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
21

Napier
Napier

3 Days
14 Days

In the Presbyterian Church, Dalton Street, Napier

03/391

4 March 1903

Rev. W. Sidey

No	14
Date of Notice	4 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Christian Ward	Edith Emily Mary Mickle
	💍 1903/1388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 Days	14 Days
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Dalton Street, Napier
Folio	03/391
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Sidey

4 March 1903

Robert David Ross Lewers
Kathleen Magill

Robert David Ross Lewers
Kathleen Magill
💍 1903/3067

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic Duties

28
21

Stratford
Napier

1 year
18 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Stratford, Napier

03/377

4 March 1903

John Burden, Registrar

No	15
Date of Notice	4 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert David Ross Lewers	Kathleen Magill
	💍 1903/3067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	18 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Stratford, Napier
Folio	03/377
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1903
Officiating Minister	John Burden, 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).