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 266

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

112

25 February 1903

Wallis Obadiah Eake
Lilian Packer

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

21
18

Christchurch
Richmond

10 years
10 years

St. Peter's Church, Riccarton

03/1466

Joseph Webley, Father

28 February 1903

Rev. W. D. Borrie, Presbyterian

No	112
Date of Notice	25 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wallis Obadiah Eake	Lilian Packer
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Richmond
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Riccarton
Folio	03/1466
Consent	Joseph Webley, Father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Borrie, Presbyterian

113

2 March 1903

Frank John Brookes
Frances Ellen Futcher

John Brookes
Frances Ellen Butcher
💍 1903/3132

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier
Domestic

24
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
4 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square

03/1026

2 March 1903

Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	113
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank John Brookes	Frances Ellen Futcher
BDM Match (81%)	John Brookes	Frances Ellen Butcher
	💍 1903/3132
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier	Domestic
Age	24	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square
Folio	03/1026
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

114

2 March 1903

Denis Benjamin O'Callaghan
Florence Maud Spinks

Denis Benjamin O'Callaghan
Florence Auld
💍 1903/911

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

24
21

St. Albans
Christchurch

4 years
7 years

St. Michael's Church

03/986

2 March 1903

Rev. Canon Averill, Anglican

No	114
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Benjamin O'Callaghan	Florence Maud Spinks
BDM Match (75%)	Denis Benjamin O'Callaghan	Florence Auld
	💍 1903/911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	03/986
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Averill, Anglican

115

2 March 1903

James Malcolm Fairbairn
Daisy Edwards

James Malcolm Fairbairn
Daisy Edwards
💍 1903/1688

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housemaid

21
21

Riccarton
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

03/940

2 March 1903

Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

No	115
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Malcolm Fairbairn	Daisy Edwards
	💍 1903/1688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housemaid
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	03/940
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

116

2 March 1903

Angus Cameron
Margaret Alice Cooper

Angus Cameron
Margaret Alice Carpenter
💍 1903/1090

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Teacher

29
29

Christchurch
Riccarton

4 days
2 years

Methodist Church, Upper Riccarton

03/1056

2 March 1903

Rev. W. Lawson, Methodist

No	116
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus Cameron	Margaret Alice Cooper
BDM Match (90%)	Angus Cameron	Margaret Alice Carpenter
	💍 1903/1090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Teacher
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Upper Riccarton
Folio	03/1056
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lawson, Methodist

117

2 March 1903

Ernest John Bamford
Eliza May O'Meeghan

Ernest John Dean Bamford
Eliza May Monaghan
💍 1903/1746

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

26
18

Sumner
Christchurch

20 years
3 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square

03/1085

Eliza O'Meeghan, Mother

2 March 1903

Rev. G. Hamilton, Church of England

No	117
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Bamford	Eliza May O'Meeghan
BDM Match (76%)	Ernest John Dean Bamford	Eliza May Monaghan
	💍 1903/1746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square
Folio	03/1085
Consent	Eliza O'Meeghan, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Hamilton, Church of England

118

2 March 1903

George Hockey
Bertha Elizabeth Burnworth

George Hockey
Bertha Elizabeth Grimwood
💍 1903/1888

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

39
28

St. Albans
Rangiora

14 years
20 years

Wesley Church, Rangiora

03/1134

2 March 1903

Rev. W. Bramley, Methodist

No	118
Date of Notice	2 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hockey	Bertha Elizabeth Burnworth
BDM Match (87%)	George Hockey	Bertha Elizabeth Grimwood
	💍 1903/1888
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Rangiora
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Rangiora
Folio	03/1134
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bramley, Methodist

119

3 March 1903

Joseph Ward
Gertrude Emily Vicks

Joseph Ward
Gertrude Emily Wicks
💍 1903/1076

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

66
39

Christchurch
Richmond

4 days
10 years

House of Mr. Davidson, Stanmore Road

03/1066

3 March 1903

Rev. C. H. Laws, Methodist

No	119
Date of Notice	3 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Ward	Gertrude Emily Vicks
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Ward	Gertrude Emily Wicks
	💍 1903/1076
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	66	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Richmond
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Davidson, Stanmore Road
Folio	03/1066
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws, Methodist

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).