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 302

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar Lyonel Charles 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

377

8 June 1903

Ellis Beresford Bush
Annie Elizabeth Kennedy

Elias Beresford Willis
Henrietta Elizabeth Kennedy
💍 1903/2790

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Tailoress

32
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
4 years

Christchurch Registry Office

03/2605

8 June 1903

Rev. C. Williams, Registrar

No	377
Date of Notice	8 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ellis Beresford Bush	Annie Elizabeth Kennedy
BDM Match (71%)	Elias Beresford Willis	Henrietta Elizabeth Kennedy
	💍 1903/2790
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Tailoress
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Registry Office
Folio	03/2605
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Williams, Registrar

378

8 June 1903

George Hayish Perkins
Elizabeth Kernick McIntyre

George Haigh Perkins
Elizabeth Veronica McIntyre
💍 1903/2901

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Tailoress

27
25

Christchurch
Sydenham

27 years
25 years

Christchurch Registry Office

03/2718

8 June 1903

Rev. R. A. Chappell, Methodist

No	378
Date of Notice	8 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hayish Perkins	Elizabeth Kernick McIntyre
BDM Match (90%)	George Haigh Perkins	Elizabeth Veronica McIntyre
	💍 1903/2901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Tailoress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	27 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Registry Office
Folio	03/2718
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chappell, Methodist

379

9 June 1903

William John Chapman
Elizabeth Jane O'Callaghan

William John Chapman
Elizabeth Jane O'Callaghan
💍 1903/2828

Bachelor
Spinster

Striker
Domestic

23
21

Christchurch
Addington

12 years
21 years

Christchurch Registry Office

03/2670

9 June 1903

Rev. W. A. Bean, Anglican

No	379
Date of Notice	9 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Chapman	Elizabeth Jane O'Callaghan
	💍 1903/2828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Striker	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	12 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Registry Office
Folio	03/2670
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Bean, Anglican

380

9 June 1903

William Arthur Ash
Essie Esther Burns

William Withers
Essie Ester Ash
💍 1903/2865

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

30
30

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

4 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church

03/2706

9 June 1903

Rev. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	380
Date of Notice	9 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Ash	Essie Esther Burns
BDM Match (67%)	William Withers	Essie Ester Ash
	💍 1903/2865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	03/2706
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

381

10 June 1903

Erick Herbert Harding
Ada Emblett Press

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
29

Christchurch
Belfast

3 days
20 years

Methodist Church

03/2741

10 June 1903

Rev. R. E. Bellhouse, Methodist

No	381
Date of Notice	10 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Erick Herbert Harding	Ada Emblett Press
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	03/2741
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. E. Bellhouse, Methodist

382

10 June 1903

William Beuchard Cross
Elsie Jane Arthur

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
22

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

25 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church

03/2707

10 June 1903

Rev. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	382
Date of Notice	10 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Beuchard Cross	Elsie Jane Arthur
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	03/2707
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

383

10 June 1903

Robert Felton Mathews
Mary Louisa Mathews

Robert Haliburton
Mary Louisa Matthews
💍 1903/1287

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

38
36

Aynham
Christchurch

6 years
11 years

St. Joseph's Church, Papanui

03/2762

10 June 1903

Rev. R. I. Murray, Methodist

No	383
Date of Notice	10 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Felton Mathews	Mary Louisa Mathews
BDM Match (69%)	Robert Haliburton	Mary Louisa Matthews
	💍 1903/1287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Aynham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Church, Papanui
Folio	03/2762
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. I. Murray, Methodist

384

10 June 1903

Harry Daniel Muff
Marie Louise Taylor

Harry Daniel Muff
Marie Louise Taylor
💍 1903/1291

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

30
24

Christchurch
Linwood

24 years
24 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

03/2766

10 June 1903

Rev. J. Sargisson, Congregational

No	384
Date of Notice	10 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Daniel Muff	Marie Louise Taylor
	💍 1903/1291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	03/2766
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sargisson, Congregational

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).