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 110

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar Frederick William Mansfield

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

197

6 April 1903

George Bridger Flint
Elizabeth Banchan

George Bridger Flint
Elizabeth Buchan
💍 1903/394

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler and Ironmonger

27
24

Wellington
Wellington

2 years 6 months
2 years 6 months

Residence of Mr. Banchan, Leeds Villa, Roxburgh Street, Wellington

03/6768

6 April 1903

Rev J. Paterson

No	197
Date of Notice	6 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bridger Flint	Elizabeth Banchan
BDM Match (94%)	George Bridger Flint	Elizabeth Buchan
	💍 1903/394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler and Ironmonger
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years 6 months	2 years 6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Banchan, Leeds Villa, Roxburgh Street, Wellington
Folio	03/6768
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson

198

6 April 1903

George Robert Burch
Elizabeth Maude Norris

George Robert Burch
Elizabeth Maud Norris
💍 1903/3090

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

22
20

Wellington
Wellington

22 years
20 years

Residence of Mr. Norris, 62 Adelaide Road, Wellington

03/2299

Elizabeth Norris, Mother

6 April 1903

Rev W. E. Oliver

No	198
Date of Notice	6 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Burch	Elizabeth Maude Norris
BDM Match (98%)	George Robert Burch	Elizabeth Maud Norris
	💍 1903/3090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Norris, 62 Adelaide Road, Wellington
Folio	03/2299
Consent	Elizabeth Norris, Mother
Date of Certificate	6 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev W. E. Oliver

199

7 April 1903

Alexander Forrest
Alice Deakin

Alexander Forrest
Alice Deakin
💍 1903/2579

Bachelor
Widow

Bank Officer

43
43

Wellington
Wellington

11 years
11 years

Residence, 111 Hanson Street, Wellington

03/2231

4 August 1902

7 April 1903

Rev J. K. Elliott

No	199
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Forrest	Alice Deakin
	💍 1903/2579
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bank Officer
Age	43	43
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	11 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence, 111 Hanson Street, Wellington
Folio	03/2231
Consent	4 August 1902
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev J. K. Elliott

200

7 April 1903

Joseph Elliot Orr
Annie Margaret Wise

Joseph Elliot Orr
Annie Margaret Wise
💍 1903/144

Bachelor
Spinster

Business Manager

26
23

Christchurch
Wellington

3 months
2 years

St. James Church

03/2265

7 April 1903

Rev Wm. Shirer

No	200
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Elliot Orr	Annie Margaret Wise
	💍 1903/144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Business Manager
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. James Church
Folio	03/2265
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm. Shirer

201

7 April 1903

Alexander William Robertson
Irene Alberta Edith Mills

Alexander William Robertson
Irene Alberta Edith Mills
💍 1903/4809

Bachelor
Spinster

Business Manager

34
22

Johnsonville
Johnsonville

3 days
8 months

St. Johns Church

03/4470

7 April 1903

Rev H. J. Stealey

No	201
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William Robertson	Irene Alberta Edith Mills
	💍 1903/4809
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Business Manager
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Johnsonville	Johnsonville
Length of Residence	3 days	8 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	03/4470
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev H. J. Stealey

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).