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 037

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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

587

13 October 1903

James Harry Willson
Ethel Cheeseman

James Harry Willson
Ethel Cheeseman
💍 1903/6509

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Buyer
Governess

34
27

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
3 days

St. Pauls Pro-Cathedral, Mulgrave Street, Wellington

03/6575

13 October 1903

Rev. J. A. Sprott

No	587
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Harry Willson	Ethel Cheeseman
	💍 1903/6509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Buyer	Governess
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Pro-Cathedral, Mulgrave Street, Wellington
Folio	03/6575
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Sprott

588

13 October 1903

Sydney Arthur Campbell
Mary Julia Robinson

Sydney Arthur Campbell
Mary Julia Robinson
💍 1903/5804

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25
33

Brooklyn
Wellington

25 years
33 years

Residence of Mr. Geo. Thirkell, No. 100 Oriental Bay, Wellington

03/5631

13 October 1903

Rev. Jas. Gibb D.D.

No	588
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Arthur Campbell	Mary Julia Robinson
	💍 1903/5804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Brooklyn	Wellington
Length of Residence	25 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Geo. Thirkell, No. 100 Oriental Bay, Wellington
Folio	03/5631
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Gibb D.D.

589

13 October 1903

James Owen Russell
Edith Lydia Croft

James Owen Russell
Edith Lydia Croft
💍 1903/5772

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
26

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
5 months

Trinity Wesleyan Church, Biddiford Street, Wellington

03/5675

13 October 1903

Rev. Geo. Bond

No	589
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Owen Russell	Edith Lydia Croft
	💍 1903/5772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Trinity Wesleyan Church, Biddiford Street, Wellington
Folio	03/5675
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Bond

590

13 October 1903

Percy Minifie
Sarah Potter

Percy Minifie
Sarah Potter
💍 1903/5751

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

19
20

Wellington
Wellington

19 years
3 years

St. James Church, Wellington South

03/5602

Ernest Minifie, father of groom; no person resident in the district to give consent in case of bride

27 October 1903

Rev. Wm. Shirer

No	590
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Minifie	Sarah Potter
	💍 1903/5751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	19 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. James Church, Wellington South
Folio	03/5602
Consent	Ernest Minifie, father of groom; no person resident in the district to give consent in case of bride
Date of Certificate	27 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Shirer

591

14 October 1903

Arthur Walter Ingerman
Caroline Dorothy Becker

Arthur Walter Tyerman
Caroline Dorothy Becker
💍 1903/6567

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

41
29

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
3 years

Residence of Rev. G. P. Hunt, 17 Wilson St., Wellington

03/6587

14 October 1903

Rev. G. P. Hunt

No	591
Date of Notice	14 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Walter Ingerman	Caroline Dorothy Becker
BDM Match (93%)	Arthur Walter Tyerman	Caroline Dorothy Becker
	💍 1903/6567
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. G. P. Hunt, 17 Wilson St., Wellington
Folio	03/6587
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Hunt

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).