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 378

District of Feilding Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Edward Packer Bowles

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 January 1903

Henry Francis Fuller
Elizabeth Lindsay Snook m.n. Dockray

Henry Francis Fuller
Elizabeth Lindsay Snook
💍 1903/62

Bachelor
Divorced

Commercial Traveller

36
31

Feilding
Feilding

3 days
5 days

Registrars

03/453

13 January 1903

Registrar

No	74
Date of Notice	13 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Francis Fuller	Elizabeth Lindsay Snook m.n. Dockray
BDM Match (82%)	Henry Francis Fuller	Elizabeth Lindsay Snook
	💍 1903/62
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrars
Folio	03/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar

20 January 1903

Henry George Minson
Isabella McDougall

Henry George Minson
Isabella McDougall
💍 1903/63

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
29

Waituna West
Waituna West

8 years
14 years

Residence of William McDougall Senr, Waituna West

03/454

20 January 1903

Rev. Charles Murray

No	75
Date of Notice	20 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Minson	Isabella McDougall
	💍 1903/63
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Waituna West	Waituna West
Length of Residence	8 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William McDougall Senr, Waituna West
Folio	03/454
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Murray

31 January 1903

John Hubert Morphy
Elizabeth Thompson Watson

John Hubert Morphy
Elizabeth Thompson Watson
💍 1903/46

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
24

Aorangi
Feilding

3 years
3 years

Residence of Alexr Watson, Feilding

03/460

31 January 1903

Rev. S. Henderson

No	76
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hubert Morphy	Elizabeth Thompson Watson
	💍 1903/46
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Aorangi	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexr Watson, Feilding
Folio	03/460
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

14 February 1903

William John Munro
Margaret Matilda Jacobsen

William John Munro
Margaret Matilda Jacobsen
💍 1903/66

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

24
22

Feilding
Feilding

3 years
2 years

Residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Jacobsen, Feilding

03/457

14 February 1903

Rev. P. M. Jones

No	77
Date of Notice	14 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Munro	Margaret Matilda Jacobsen
	💍 1903/66
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Jacobsen, Feilding
Folio	03/457
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. M. Jones

2 March 1903

William Bloomfield
Christina Stephenson Bromley

William Bloomfield
Christina Stephenson Bromley
💍 1903/67

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
34

Feilding
Feilding

4 days
4 days

Residence of Richard Burns, Feilding

03/458

2 March 1903

Rev. James Thomas

No	78
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bloomfield	Christina Stephenson Bromley
	💍 1903/67
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	34
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Richard Burns, Feilding
Folio	03/458
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Thomas

3 March 1903

Richard Harcourt Godfrey
Clara Muldrock

Richard Harcourt Godfrey
Clara Muldrock
💍 1903/68

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
23

Feilding
Feilding

1 month
1 month

Church of England, Feilding

03/459

3 March 1903

Rev. Alan S. Innes Jones

No	79
Date of Notice	3 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Harcourt Godfrey	Clara Muldrock
	💍 1903/68
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	23
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	Church of England, Feilding
Folio	03/459
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alan S. Innes Jones

5 March 1903

Frederick Handley
Bertha Buckingham

Frederick Handley
Bertha Buckingham
💍 1903/64

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Feilding
Feilding

3 days
21 days

Presbyterian Church, Feilding

03/455

5 March 1903

Rev. Chas Murray

No	80
Date of Notice	5 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Handley	Bertha Buckingham
	💍 1903/64
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	21 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Feilding
Folio	03/455
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas Murray

30 March 1903

Thomas Joseph Clapham
Annie Grace

Thomas Joseph Clapham
Annie Grace
💍 1903/65

Divorced
Spinster

Farmer

44
40

Feilding
Sanson

1 week
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Feilding

03/456

30 March 1903

Rev. Chas Murray

No	81
Date of Notice	30 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Clapham	Annie Grace
	💍 1903/65
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	44	40
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Sanson
Length of Residence	1 week	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Feilding
Folio	03/456
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas Murray

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).