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 123

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

682

30 April 1903

George Norman Burrell
Elizabeth Burrow

George Norman Burrell
Elizabeth Burrow
💍 1903/1263

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

27 years
24 years

Ngatimoti
Ngatimoti

11 years
4 months

Ngatimoti Church

03/2447

30 April 1903

Rev. G. W. Baker, Church of England

No	682
Date of Notice	30 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Norman Burrell	Elizabeth Burrow
	💍 1903/1263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Ngatimoti	Ngatimoti
Length of Residence	11 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Ngatimoti Church
Folio	03/2447
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Baker, Church of England

683

22 May 1903

Gottlieb Johannes Heinrich Rose
Ida Sophia Antone Bosselmann

Gotlieb Johannes Heinrich Rose
Ida Sophia Antone Bosselmann
💍 1903/1248

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30 years
27 years

Upper Moutere
Upper Moutere

30 years
27 years

Upper Moutere Lutheran Church

03/2456

22 May 1903

Rev. I. C. G. Thiel, Lutheran Church

No	683
Date of Notice	22 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gottlieb Johannes Heinrich Rose	Ida Sophia Antone Bosselmann
BDM Match (98%)	Gotlieb Johannes Heinrich Rose	Ida Sophia Antone Bosselmann
	💍 1903/1248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Upper Moutere
Length of Residence	30 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Upper Moutere Lutheran Church
Folio	03/2456
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. C. G. Thiel, Lutheran Church

684

12 May 1903

Samuel Cate
Dorathea Margaret Matilda Schroder

Samuel Cate
Dorathea Margaret Matilda Schroder
💍 1903/1262

Widower
Widow

Shoemaker
Housekeeper

44 years
31 years

Motueka
Motueka

12 years
2 years

George Kromer's house, Lower Moutere

03/2445

12 May 1903

Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

No	684
Date of Notice	12 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Cate	Dorathea Margaret Matilda Schroder
	💍 1903/1262
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Shoemaker	Housekeeper
Age	44 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	George Kromer's house, Lower Moutere
Folio	03/2445
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston, Church of England

685

15 May 1903

William John Davies
Emily Inwood

William John Davies
Emily Inwood
💍 1903/1253

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21 years
23 years

Dovedale
Pangatotara

18 years
23 years

Registrar's Office, Motueka

03/2441

15 May 1903

H. A. Tarrant, Motueka Registrar

No	685
Date of Notice	15 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Davies	Emily Inwood
	💍 1903/1253
	💍 1903/1253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dovedale	Pangatotara
Length of Residence	18 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Motueka
Folio	03/2441
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1903
Officiating Minister	H. A. Tarrant, Motueka Registrar

686

18 May 1903

Alfred Newton Wilkinson
Winnifred Harriett Turner

Alfred Newton Wilkinson
Winifred Harriett Turner
💍 1903/2692

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26 years
25 years

Woodstock
Woodstock

3 days
25 years

Woodstock School

03/2507

18 May 1903

Rev. William S. Lucas, Church of England

No	686
Date of Notice	18 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Newton Wilkinson	Winnifred Harriett Turner
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Newton Wilkinson	Winifred Harriett Turner
	💍 1903/2692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Woodstock	Woodstock
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Woodstock School
Folio	03/2507
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. William S. Lucas, Church of England

687

26 May 1903

Archie Hodgkinson
Ada Jane Bartlett

Archie Hodgkinson
Ada Jane Bartlett
💍 1903/1259

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26 years
21 years

Riwaka
Riwaka

3 days
2 weeks

Registrar's Office, Motueka

03/2442

26 May 1903

H. A. Tarrant, Motueka Registrar

No	687
Date of Notice	26 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archie Hodgkinson	Ada Jane Bartlett
	💍 1903/1259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Motueka
Folio	03/2442
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1903
Officiating Minister	H. A. Tarrant, Motueka Registrar

688

6 June 1903

Arthur John Bensemann
Rosina Isabel Eban

Arthur John Bensemann
Rosina Isabel Eban
💍 1903/1265

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25 years
23 years

Upper Moutere
Dovedale

25 years
23 years

Wesleyan Church, Dovedale

03/2449

6 June 1903

Rev. Amos Reader, Methodist Minister

No	688
Date of Notice	6 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Bensemann	Rosina Isabel Eban
	💍 1903/1265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Dovedale
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Dovedale
Folio	03/2449
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Amos Reader, Methodist Minister

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).