Intentions to Marry, 1903 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840424, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 10 2025.

1903 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 097

District of Granity Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar David Gordon

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

29 July 1903

James Arthur Williams
Elizabeth Bessie Hempton

James Arthur Williams
Elizabeth Bessie Knapton
💍 1903/4381

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

35
27

Granity
Granity

3 Months
4 weeks

Mission Hall

03/4119

29 July 1903

Rev. R. G. Foy

No	6
Date of Notice	29 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Williams	Elizabeth Bessie Hempton
BDM Match (94%)	James Arthur Williams	Elizabeth Bessie Knapton
	💍 1903/4381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Granity	Granity
Length of Residence	3 Months	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Mission Hall
Folio	03/4119
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. G. Foy

30 July 1903

Ernest Francis John Afted
Henrietta Agnes Ward

Ernest Francis John Apted
Henrietta Agnes Ward
💍 1903/4353

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

37
28

Seddonville
Seddonville

19 years
14 years

Methodist Church

03/4114

3 August 1903

Rev. J. Featherstone

No	7
Date of Notice	30 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Francis John Afted	Henrietta Agnes Ward
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Francis John Apted	Henrietta Agnes Ward
	💍 1903/4353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Seddonville	Seddonville
Length of Residence	19 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	03/4114
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Featherstone

30 July 1903

Malcolm McLean
Barbara Davison

Malcolm McLean
Barbara Davidson
💍 1903/4382

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

21
20

Millerton
Millerton

Residence of Brides Father

03/4120

William Davison, Father

19 August 1903

Rev. R. G. Foy

No	8
Date of Notice	30 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm McLean	Barbara Davison
BDM Match (97%)	Malcolm McLean	Barbara Davidson
	💍 1903/4382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Millerton	Millerton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Father
Folio	03/4120
Consent	William Davison, Father
Date of Certificate	19 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. G. Foy

3 August 1903

Thomas Hammond
Mary Young

Thomas Hammond
Mary Young
💍 1903/4380

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Domestic

56
41

Granity
Granity

2 Months
3 Months

Registry Office

03/4118

5 August 1903

D. Gordon, Registrar

No	9
Date of Notice	3 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hammond	Mary Young
	💍 1903/4380
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	56	41
Dwelling Place	Granity	Granity
Length of Residence	2 Months	3 Months
Marriage Place	Registry Office
Folio	03/4118
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1903
Officiating Minister	D. Gordon, Registrar

29 August 1903

Thomas Ross
Esther McWha

Thomas Ross
Esther McNarn
💍 1903/4383

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

28
23

Millerton
Nga Kawau

2 years
2 years

Hotel, Nga Kawau

03/4121

29 August 1903

Rev. R. G. Foy

No	10
Date of Notice	29 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ross	Esther McWha
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Ross	Esther McNarn
	💍 1903/4383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Millerton	Nga Kawau
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Hotel, Nga Kawau
Folio	03/4121
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. G. Foy

31 August 1903

Francis Road Rogers
Elizabeth Cain

Francis David Rogers
Elizabeth Cain
💍 1903/4384

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

28
21

Millerton
Millerton

28
2

Residence of Brides Father

03/4122

31 August 1903

Rev. Archdeacon Walsh

No	11
Date of Notice	31 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Road Rogers	Elizabeth Cain
BDM Match (90%)	Francis David Rogers	Elizabeth Cain
	💍 1903/4384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Millerton	Millerton
Length of Residence	28	2
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Father
Folio	03/4122
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Walsh

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).