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 244

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

107

20 October 1903

JohnMcHardy
Amy Roux Buisson

John McHardy
Amy Roux Buisson
💍 1903/5575

Divorced
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Dressmaker

32
31

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
2 years

At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North

03/5466

20 October 1903

Robt. R. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	107
Date of Notice	20 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	JohnMcHardy	Amy Roux Buisson
BDM Match (96%)	John McHardy	Amy Roux Buisson
	💍 1903/5575
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5466
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Robt. R. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

108

24 October 1903

Louis James Skirt
Effie Isaline Fairs

Louis James Stent
Effie Isaline Fairs
💍 1903/5577

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

03/5468

24 October 1903

Rev. C.C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	108
Date of Notice	24 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis James Skirt	Effie Isaline Fairs
BDM Match (91%)	Louis James Stent	Effie Isaline Fairs
	💍 1903/5577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5468
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

109

24 October 1903

John Flanagan
Caroline Frances Bird

John Flanagan
Caroline Frances Bird
💍 1903/5578

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

28
19

Longburn
Longburn

14 years
10 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

03/5469

Charles Edward Bird, father

24 October 1903

Rev. C.C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	109
Date of Notice	24 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Flanagan	Caroline Frances Bird
	💍 1903/5578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Longburn	Longburn
Length of Residence	14 years	10 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5469
Consent	Charles Edward Bird, father
Date of Certificate	24 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

110

24 October 1903

Chester Munro Burt
Margaret Cecilia Drew

Chester Munro Burt
Margaret Cecilia Drew
💍 1903/5609

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

26
26

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
3 years

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

03/5479

24 October 1903

Rev. P.W. Symons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

No	110
Date of Notice	24 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Chester Munro Burt	Margaret Cecilia Drew
	💍 1903/5609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5479
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.W. Symons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

111

28 October 1903

Alfred Hunt
Agnes Wilson

Alfred Hunt
Agnes Wilson
💍 1903/5599

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Bookbinder

23
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 days
4 days

Broad Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North

03/5491

28 October 1903

Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	111
Date of Notice	28 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Hunt	Agnes Wilson
	💍 1903/5599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Bookbinder
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Broad Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5491
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

112

4 November 1903

Leonard John Meyrick
Isabella Catherine Smith

Leonard John Meyrick
Isabella Catherine Smith
💍 1903/5980

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

23 years
3 years

At the residence of Archibald Smith, Palmerston North

03/5871

4 November 1903

Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

No	112
Date of Notice	4 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard John Meyrick	Isabella Catherine Smith
	💍 1903/5980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	23 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Archibald Smith, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5871
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

113

14 November 1903

Harold Martin Dennes
Florine Somerson

Harold Martin Dennes
Florine Imerson
💍 1903/5610

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

23
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 week
3 days

At the house of Rev. P.W. Symons, Palmerston North

03/5480

14 November 1903

Rev. P.W. Symons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

No	113
Date of Notice	14 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Martin Dennes	Florine Somerson
BDM Match (94%)	Harold Martin Dennes	Florine Imerson
	💍 1903/5610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	At the house of Rev. P.W. Symons, Palmerston North
Folio	03/5480
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.W. Symons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

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).