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 540

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

21 March 1903

John Charles McCormick
Evaline Edith Simon

John Charles McCormick
Evaline Edith Simon
💍 1903/1408

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
20

Napier
Napier

9 months
9 months

At the Residence of the Brides Parents, Crissoge, Taradale

03/387

George Simon, Father

21 March 1903

Rev. A. P. Clarke

No	21
Date of Notice	21 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles McCormick	Evaline Edith Simon
	💍 1903/1408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Brides Parents, Crissoge, Taradale
Folio	03/387
Consent	George Simon, Father
Date of Certificate	21 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke

23 March 1903

William Lowrie
Alice Longbottom

William Lourie
Alice Longbottom
💍 1903/1386

Widower
Spinster

Agriculture
Domestic Duties

45
41

Canterbury
Napier

17 months
3 days

In the Presbyterian Church, Walton Street, Napier

03/389

23 March 1903

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	22
Date of Notice	23 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lowrie	Alice Longbottom
BDM Match (96%)	William Lourie	Alice Longbottom
	💍 1903/1386
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Agriculture	Domestic Duties
Age	45	41
Dwelling Place	Canterbury	Napier
Length of Residence	17 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Walton Street, Napier
Folio	03/389
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

26 March 1903

Frederick Gebbie
Agnes Lindegreen

Frederick Gebbie
Agnes Lindegreen
💍 1903/1406

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Driver
Dressmaker

30
22

Napier
Napier

30 years
22 years

At St. Augustine Church

03/385

26 March 1903

Rev. E. L. Luke

No	23
Date of Notice	26 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Gebbie	Agnes Lindegreen
	💍 1903/1406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Driver	Dressmaker
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At St. Augustine Church
Folio	03/385
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. L. Luke

26 March 1903

Iraia Karauria
Apitiarra Jehan

Iraia Karauria
Apikaera Tehau
💍 1903/1395

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

42
33

Ngahape
Ngahape

17 years
17 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

03/380

26 March 1903

John Burden, Registrar

No	24
Date of Notice	26 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Iraia Karauria	Apitiarra Jehan
BDM Match (83%)	Iraia Karauria	Apikaera Tehau
	💍 1903/1395
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Ngahape	Ngahape
Length of Residence	17 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	03/380
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1903
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar

30 March 1903

Frederick Tucker
Daisy May Newman

Frederick Inker
Daisy May Newman
💍 1903/1387

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

30
22

Napier
Napier

4 days
4 days

At St. Pauls Presbyterian Church, Napier

03/390

30 March 1903

Rev. J. L. Maher

No	25
Date of Notice	30 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Tucker	Daisy May Newman
BDM Match (91%)	Frederick Inker	Daisy May Newman
	💍 1903/1387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	At St. Pauls Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	03/390
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Maher

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).