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 257

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

28 January 1903

James Donald Wilson
Emily Mead Armstrong

James Donald Wilson
Emily Maud Armstrong
💍 1903/1082

Widower
Spinster

Builder

39
28

Christchurch
Dallington

3 days
6 years

House of Mr. Armstrong

03/1071

28 January 1903

Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

No	45
Date of Notice	28 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Donald Wilson	Emily Mead Armstrong
BDM Match (95%)	James Donald Wilson	Emily Maud Armstrong
	💍 1903/1082
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dallington
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Armstrong
Folio	03/1071
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

28 January 1903

Ralph Reid
Mary Peel

Hugh Reid
Mary Peel
💍 1903/972

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Dressmaker

24
24

Papanui
Papanui

24 years
15 years

House of Mr. Peel

03/1034

29 January 1903

Rev. P. Wilson, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	28 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Reid	Mary Peel
BDM Match (80%)	Hugh Reid	Mary Peel
	💍 1903/972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	24 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Peel
Folio	03/1034
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Wilson, Presbyterian

29 January 1903

Arthur William Roberts
Dorothy Eliza Partridge

Arthur William Roberts
Florence Eliza Partridge
💍 1903/921

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Artist

29
29

Christchurch
Linwood

20 years
20 years

St. John's, Christchurch

03/996

29 January 1903

Rev. R. A. Woodthorpe, Anglican

No	50
Date of Notice	29 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Roberts	Dorothy Eliza Partridge
BDM Match (88%)	Arthur William Roberts	Florence Eliza Partridge
	💍 1903/921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Artist
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's, Christchurch
Folio	03/996
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Woodthorpe, Anglican

29 January 1903

Henry Hand
Barbara Jessie

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Tailoress

23
20

Sydenham
St. Albans

16 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

03/925

Barbara Jessie, mother

29 January 1903

Registrar, Christchurch

No	51
Date of Notice	29 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hand	Barbara Jessie
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Tailoress
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	St. Albans
Length of Residence	16 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	03/925
Consent	Barbara Jessie, mother
Date of Certificate	29 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

29 January 1903

Malcolm Shier
Emma Frances Heaseman

Malcolm Shier
Emma Frances Heasman
💍 1903/929

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Upholsterer

27
25

Christchurch
St. Albans

27 years
2 years

St. Michael's, Christchurch

03/982

29 January 1903

Rev. Canon Averill, Anglican

No	52
Date of Notice	29 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Shier	Emma Frances Heaseman
BDM Match (98%)	Malcolm Shier	Emma Frances Heasman
	💍 1903/929
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Upholsterer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	27 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's, Christchurch
Folio	03/982
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Averill, Anglican

30 January 1903

William George Duffau
Emily Miller

William George Duggan
Emily Miller
💍 1903/1698

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk, Merchant
Saleswoman

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

03/926

30 January 1903

Registrar, Christchurch

No	53
Date of Notice	30 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Duffau	Emily Miller
BDM Match (93%)	William George Duggan	Emily Miller
	💍 1903/1698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk, Merchant	Saleswoman
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	03/926
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

31 January 1903

Ernest Alfred Copley
Constance Beatrice Stewart

Ernest Alfred Copley
Constance Beatrice Smart
💍 1903/3135

Bachelor
Spinster

Pattern Maker
Dressmaker

26
20

Linwood
Sydenham

23 years
20 years

House of Mr. Stewart, Mowbray Street, Sydenham

03/1030

George Stewart, father

31 January 1903

Rev. C. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Alfred Copley	Constance Beatrice Stewart
BDM Match (94%)	Ernest Alfred Copley	Constance Beatrice Smart
	💍 1903/3135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pattern Maker	Dressmaker
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Stewart, Mowbray Street, Sydenham
Folio	03/1030
Consent	George Stewart, father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Simpson, Presbyterian

31 January 1903

David Leathem Dures
Matilda Angelina Voce

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

28
22

Templeton
Templeton

4 years
22 years

St. Saviour's, Templeton

03/1008

31 January 1903

Rev. J. J. Blackburn, Anglican

No	55
Date of Notice	31 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Leathem Dures	Matilda Angelina Voce
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's, Templeton
Folio	03/1008
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Blackburn, Anglican

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).