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 178

District of Whanganui Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Charles E. Hylton

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

31 January 1903

Charles Berkett
Johanna Burke

Charles Berkett
Johanna Burke
💍 1903/788

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer
Tailoress

33
28

Waverley
Whanganui

12 months
28 years

The residence of Mr. Patrick Burke, Wilson Street, Whanganui

03/600

31 January 1903

Dean Kirk, Roman Catholic

No	14
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Berkett	Johanna Burke
	💍 1903/788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer	Tailoress
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Waverley	Whanganui
Length of Residence	12 months	28 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Patrick Burke, Wilson Street, Whanganui
Folio	03/600
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Dean Kirk, Roman Catholic

31 January 1903

George Ellis James
Ethel Kench

George Ellis James
Ethel Kench
💍 1903/789

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

22
19

Whanganui
Whanganui

3 years
7 years

The residence of Mr. James Kench, London Street, Whanganui

03/601

Father

31 January 1903

James Cocker, Primitive Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ellis James	Ethel Kench
	💍 1903/789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. James Kench, London Street, Whanganui
Folio	03/601
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	James Cocker, Primitive Methodist

31 January 1903

Frank Delves
Ada Jane Kerby

Frank Delves
Ada Jane Kerby
💍 1903/1481

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

29
26

Whanganui
Whanganui

21 years
15 years

Church of England, Whanganui

03/588

31 January 1903

J. B. Maclean, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Delves	Ada Jane Kerby
	💍 1903/1481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whanganui
Folio	03/588
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	J. B. Maclean, Church of England

2 February 1903

George Wallace Carr
Ethel Maude Thorburn

George Wallace Carr
Ethel Maude Thorburn
💍 1903/1493

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Servant

30
24

Whanganui
Whanganui

5 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

03/576

2 February 1903

The Deputy-Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

No	17
Date of Notice	2 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wallace Carr	Ethel Maude Thorburn
	💍 1903/1493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Servant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui
Folio	03/576
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1903
Officiating Minister	The Deputy-Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

3 February 1903

Alfred William Watts
Millicent Anne Hunter

Alfred William Watts
Millicent Anne Hunter
💍 1903/1479

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

32
29

Whanganui
Whanganui

3 days
6 months

St. John's Church of England, Whanganui

03/586

3 February 1903

J. B. Maclean, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	3 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Watts	Millicent Anne Hunter
	💍 1903/1479
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church of England, Whanganui
Folio	03/586
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1903
Officiating Minister	J. B. Maclean, Church of England

7 February 1903

James Mortimer Clarkson
Mary Matilda Jacobs

James Mortimer Clarkson
Mary Matilda Jacobs
💍 1903/1480

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Laundress

38
26

Whanganui
Whanganui

3 days
3 days

St. John's Church of England, Whanganui

03/587

7 February 1903

J. B. Maclean, Church of England

No	19
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mortimer Clarkson	Mary Matilda Jacobs
	💍 1903/1480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Laundress
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Church of England, Whanganui
Folio	03/587
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	J. B. Maclean, Church of England

7 February 1903

Albert Edward Taylor
Mary Elizabeth O'Brien

Albert Edward Taylor
Mary Elizabeth O'Brien
💍 1903/1494

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

31
35

Whanganui
Whanganui

10 days
5 weeks

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

03/577

7 February 1903

The Deputy-Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

No	20
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Taylor	Mary Elizabeth O'Brien
	💍 1903/1494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Whanganui	Whanganui
Length of Residence	10 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui
Folio	03/577
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	The Deputy-Registrar of Marriages, Whanganui

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).