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 183

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar W. Harper

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

23 February 1903

John Raxworthy
Janey Olivia Spyer

John Raxworthy
Pansie Olivia Spyer
💍 1903/1619

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

21
17

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
6 years

Church of England, Greymouth

03/868

Lawrence Spyer, father

23 February 1903

Rev. G. W. York

No	9
Date of Notice	23 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Raxworthy	Janey Olivia Spyer
BDM Match (89%)	John Raxworthy	Pansie Olivia Spyer
	💍 1903/1619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	03/868
Consent	Lawrence Spyer, father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

27 February 1903

Clement Holdsworth
Margaret Eastgate

Clement Holdsworth Eggleton
Margaret Eastgate
💍 1903/1620

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

21
30

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 months
3 months

Private Residence of Clement Holdsworth, Eggleston, Arney Street, Greymouth

03/869

27 February 1903

Rev. C. W. Stace

No	10
Date of Notice	27 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clement Holdsworth	Margaret Eastgate
BDM Match (83%)	Clement Holdsworth Eggleton	Margaret Eastgate
	💍 1903/1620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	21	30
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Clement Holdsworth, Eggleston, Arney Street, Greymouth
Folio	03/869
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. Stace

4 March 1903

William Henry Hutchings
Charlotte Gray

William Henry Hutchings
Charlotte Gray
💍 1903/1621

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
28

Greymouth
Greymouth

26 years
8 years

Private Residence of W. H. Hutchings, Arney Street, Greymouth

03/870

4 March 1903

Rev. G. W. York

No	11
Date of Notice	4 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hutchings	Charlotte Gray
	💍 1903/1621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	26 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of W. H. Hutchings, Arney Street, Greymouth
Folio	03/870
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

16 March 1903

Hoponi Meihana
Retitia Laura Jaimui

Hoponi Meihana
Rititia Taura Tainui
💍 1903/1622

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

24
17

Kaneiri
Arahura

3 days
3 days

Church of England, Greymouth

03/871

Hoani Jaimui, father

16 March 1903

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	13
Date of Notice	16 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hoponi Meihana	Retitia Laura Jaimui
BDM Match (90%)	Hoponi Meihana	Rititia Taura Tainui
	💍 1903/1622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Kaneiri	Arahura
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	03/871
Consent	Hoani Jaimui, father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

21 March 1903

Harold Edward Oriney
Clara Mary King

Harold Edward Orkney
Clara Mary King
💍 1903/1611

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredgehand
Domestic

24
21

Moonlight
Moonlight

3 days
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

03/861

21 March 1903

Benjamin Harper, Registrar of Marriages

No	14
Date of Notice	21 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Edward Oriney	Clara Mary King
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Edward Orkney	Clara Mary King
	💍 1903/1611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredgehand	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Moonlight	Moonlight
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	03/861
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper, Registrar of Marriages

24 March 1903

James Kerr
Agnes Jane Stevenson

James Kerr
Agnes Jane Stevenson
💍 1903/1613

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

28
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

28 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church at Greymouth

03/863

24 March 1903

Rev. Rob. Stewart

No	15
Date of Notice	24 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kerr	Agnes Jane Stevenson
	💍 1903/1613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	28 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Greymouth
Folio	03/863
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Rob. Stewart

9 March 1903

William Arnett
Laura Barker

William Arnett
Laura Barker
💍 1903/1614

Widower
Widow

Architect
Domestic Duties

67
37

Greymouth
Greymouth

36 years
2 years

Private Residence of Mr. Wm. Arnett, Jaimi Street, Greymouth

03/864

9 March 1903

Rev. Robert Stewart

No
Date of Notice	9 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arnett	Laura Barker
	💍 1903/1614
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Architect	Domestic Duties
Age	67	37
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	36 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. Wm. Arnett, Jaimi Street, Greymouth
Folio	03/864
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Stewart

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).