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 033

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 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

2 October 1903

Henry Grace White
Catherine Common Fraser

Henry Horace White
Catherine Common Fraser
💍 1903/5727

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
22 years

Residence of Mr. J. Fraser, Blenheim

03/5757

2 October 1903

Rev W. O. Robb

No	45
Date of Notice	2 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Grace White	Catherine Common Fraser
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Horace White	Catherine Common Fraser
	💍 1903/5727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Fraser, Blenheim
Folio	03/5757
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev W. O. Robb

19 October 1903

Henry Henderson
Mary Ann Hodson

Henry Henderson
Mary Ann Hodson
💍 1903/5728

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

20
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
18 years

Residence of Mr. J. Hodson, Blenheim

03/5758

Andrew Henderson, father; John Hodson, father

19 October 1903

Rev J. H. Spence

No	46
Date of Notice	19 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Henderson	Mary Ann Hodson
	💍 1903/5728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Hodson, Blenheim
Folio	03/5758
Consent	Andrew Henderson, father; John Hodson, father
Date of Certificate	19 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Spence

3 November 1903

William Charles Anderson
Elizabeth Ann Barton

William Charles Anderson
Elizabeth Ann Barton
💍 1903/5729

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

37
24

Onamalutu
Onamalutu

37 years
24 years

Residence of W. O. Robb, Springlands

03/5759

3 November 1903

Rev W. O. Robb

No	47
Date of Notice	3 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Anderson	Elizabeth Ann Barton
	💍 1903/5729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Onamalutu	Onamalutu
Length of Residence	37 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. O. Robb, Springlands
Folio	03/5759
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev W. O. Robb

6 November 1903

George Pope
Jane Jellyman

George Pope
Jane Jellyman
💍 1903/5731

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

37
24

Okaramio
Blenheim

3 days
24 years

Residence of Mr. J. Jellyman, Blenheim

03/5761

6 November 1903

Rev H. Foslow

No	48
Date of Notice	6 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Pope	Jane Jellyman
	💍 1903/5731
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Okaramio	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Jellyman, Blenheim
Folio	03/5761
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Foslow

21 November 1903

Kenneth Phin Mowat
Florence May Willis

Kenneth Phin Mowat
Florence May Willis
💍 1903/5726

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

47
31

Awatere
Awatere

47 years
4 months

Residence of Mr. R. W. Young, Awatere

03/5756

21 November 1903

Arch T. S. Grace

No	49
Date of Notice	21 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Phin Mowat	Florence May Willis
	💍 1903/5726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	47	31
Dwelling Place	Awatere	Awatere
Length of Residence	47 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. R. W. Young, Awatere
Folio	03/5756
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Arch T. S. Grace

28 November 1903

John William Devine
Edith McPhillips

John William Devine
Edith McPhillips
💍 1903/5733

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

26
26

Seddon
Seddon

2 years
26 years

Residence of J. O'Dwyer, Blind River

03/5762

28 November 1903

Rev L. C. Servajeau

No	50
Date of Notice	28 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Devine	Edith McPhillips
	💍 1903/5733
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Seddon
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. O'Dwyer, Blind River
Folio	03/5762
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev L. C. Servajeau

2 December 1903

Alexander Mackay
Margaret McCallum

Alexander MacKay
Margaret McCallum
💍 1903/5730

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

41
33

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 years
33 years

Residence of Mr. A. McCallum, Waterlea

03/5760

2 December 1903

Rev W. O. Robb

No	51
Date of Notice	2 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Mackay	Margaret McCallum
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander MacKay	Margaret McCallum
	💍 1903/5730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	33
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. McCallum, Waterlea
Folio	03/5760
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev W. O. Robb

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 1908. 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).