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 122

District of Motueka Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar H. A. Tarrant

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

675

1 April 1903

Samuel Arnold Atkinson
Mary Herrick Hursthouse

Samuel Arnold Atkinson
Mary Herrick Hursthouse
💍 1903/1260

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic duties

28
27

Wellington
Motueka

9 months

St. Thomas' Church, Motueka

03/2443

1 April 1903

Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

No	675
Date of Notice	1 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Arnold Atkinson	Mary Herrick Hursthouse
	💍 1903/1260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Motueka
Length of Residence		9 months
Marriage Place	St. Thomas' Church, Motueka
Folio	03/2443
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

676

7 April 1903

Percy William Copeman Willson
Emily Beatrice Boyes

Percy William Copeman Willson
Emily Beatrice Boyes
💍 1903/1247

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk Civil Service
Domestic duties

24
27

Motueka
Motueka

3 days
27 years

Miss Parker's House, Motueka

03/2455

7 April 1903

Rev. William Wills, Methodist

No	676
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy William Copeman Willson	Emily Beatrice Boyes
	💍 1903/1247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk Civil Service	Domestic duties
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Miss Parker's House, Motueka
Folio	03/2455
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wills, Methodist

677

7 April 1903

Evan Frederick Forsyth
Harriett Sophia Farley

Evan Frederick Forsyth
Harriett Sophia Farley
💍 1903/1245

Widower
Spinster

Stock Farmer
Domestic Servant

43
28

Motueka
Motueka

3 days
5 years

Richard Farley's House, Lower Moutere

03/2453

7 April 1903

Rev. Edward Lewis, Church of Christ

No	677
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Evan Frederick Forsyth	Harriett Sophia Farley
	💍 1903/1245
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stock Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	43	28
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Richard Farley's House, Lower Moutere
Folio	03/2453
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Lewis, Church of Christ

678

9 April 1903

Reginald James Prowse
Mary Elizabeth Miller

Reginald James Prowse
Mary Elizabeth Miller
💍 1903/1261

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
27

Motueka
Motueka

2 1/2 years
10 years

St. Thomas' Church, Motueka

03/2444

9 April 1903

Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

No	678
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald James Prowse	Mary Elizabeth Miller
	💍 1903/1261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas' Church, Motueka
Folio	03/2444
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

679

13 April 1903

Albert Devall Chapman
Elizabeth Agnes Best

Albert Devall Chapman
Elizabeth Agnes Best
💍 1903/1246

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

30
26

Upper Moutere
Upper Moutere

3 days
4 days

Presbyterian Church, Upper Moutere

03/2454

13 April 1903

Rev. McKenzie, Presbyterian Minister

No	679
Date of Notice	13 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Devall Chapman	Elizabeth Agnes Best
	💍 1903/1246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Upper Moutere
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Upper Moutere
Folio	03/2454
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. McKenzie, Presbyterian Minister

680

27 April 1903

William Wills
Ruth Georgiana Deck

William Wills
Ruth Georgiana Deck
💍 1903/1264

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
School Teacher

31
28

Motueka
Motueka

2 years
28 years

Methodist Church, Motueka

03/2448

27 April 1903

Rev. William J. Williams, Methodist Minister

No	680
Date of Notice	27 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wills	Ruth Georgiana Deck
	💍 1903/1264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	School Teacher
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Motueka
Folio	03/2448
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. William J. Williams, Methodist Minister

681

30 April 1903

Richard Trewavas
Eliza Louisa Livick

Richard Trewavas
Eliza Louisa Livick
💍 1903/1251

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

33
35

Motueka
Nelson

33 years
35 years

Mr. Livick's House, Nelson

03/2459

30 April 1903

Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

No	681
Date of Notice	30 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Trewavas	Eliza Louisa Livick
	💍 1903/1251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	33	35
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Nelson
Length of Residence	33 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Livick's House, Nelson
Folio	03/2459
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

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).