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 031

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar Henry Arthur Jackman

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

10 July 1903

Frederick Orr
Ada Rutledge

Frederick Orr
Ada Rutledge
💍 1903/4926

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
24

Para
Para

1 Year
3 Years

Registrar of Marriages Office

03/4841

10 July 1903

H. A. Jackman, Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	10 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Orr	Ada Rutledge
	💍 1903/4926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Para	Para
Length of Residence	1 Year	3 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office
Folio	03/4841
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1903
Officiating Minister	H. A. Jackman, Registrar

11 July 1903

Charles Rollinshaw
Lydia Allport

Charles Pollinshaw
Lydia Allport
💍 1903/4359

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool-sorter

27
21

Blenheim
Spring Creek

8 years
21 Years

Mr. J. Allport's residence

03/4097

11 July 1903

Rev. E. H. Ensor, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	11 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Rollinshaw	Lydia Allport
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Pollinshaw	Lydia Allport
	💍 1903/4359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool-sorter
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	8 years	21 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. Allport's residence
Folio	03/4097
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Ensor, Church of England

27 July 1903

Jacob Kennington
Jean Lyle Gordon

Jacob Kennington
Jean Lyle Gordon
💍 1903/4337

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
29

Karamea
Seddon

28 years
18 months

Church of England

03/4091

27 July 1903

Arch. J. S. Grace, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	27 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Kennington	Jean Lyle Gordon
	💍 1903/4337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Karamea	Seddon
Length of Residence	28 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	03/4091
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Arch. J. S. Grace, Church of England

29 July 1903

Michael Desmond
Bessie Gibson

Michael Desmond
Bessie Gibson
💍 1903/4360

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

15 Years
3 Years

Mr. W. W. Casey's residence

03/4098

29 July 1903

Father P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	29 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Desmond	Bessie Gibson
	💍 1903/4360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	15 Years	3 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. W. W. Casey's residence
Folio	03/4098
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Father P. Fay, Roman Catholic

31 July 1903

Alfred Douglas
Violet Fairweather

Alfred Douglas
Violet Fairweather
💍 1903/4327

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

32
32

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
32 years

Mr. W. Fairweather's residence

03/4088

31 July 1903

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	31 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Douglas	Violet Fairweather
	💍 1903/4327
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Mr. W. Fairweather's residence
Folio	03/4088
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

3 August 1903

Robert Dedman
Catherine Bell

Robert Dedman
Catherine Bell
💍 1903/4326

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

29
22

Top Valley
Blenheim

1 Year
2 Years

Mr. Gille's residence

03/4087

3 August 1903

Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan

No	37
Date of Notice	3 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Dedman	Catherine Bell
	💍 1903/4326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Top Valley	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 Year	2 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. Gille's residence
Folio	03/4087
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan

4 August 1903

Herbert Henry Walker
Adelaide Verna Bowser

Herbert Henry Walker
Adelaide Verna Bowser
💍 1903/4348

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

27
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
22 years

Mr. Bowser's residence

03/4092

4 August 1903

Arch. J. S. Grace, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	4 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Walker	Adelaide Verna Bowser
	💍 1903/4348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Bowser's residence
Folio	03/4092
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Arch. J. S. Grace, 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).