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 380

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar Alfred Andrews

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

634

6 August 1903

John Samporn Boughton
Emily Chesterman

John Sampson Boughton
Emily Chesterman
💍 1903/211

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

21
20

Geraldine
Geraldine

21 years
20 years

Primitive Methodist Parsonage, Geraldine

03/4355

George Henry Chesterman, Brother

6 August 1903

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	634
Date of Notice	6 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samporn Boughton	Emily Chesterman
BDM Match (95%)	John Sampson Boughton	Emily Chesterman
	💍 1903/211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Parsonage, Geraldine
Folio	03/4355
Consent	George Henry Chesterman, Brother
Date of Certificate	6 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

635

7 August 1903

John Thomas Meredith
Eveline Mary Griffiths

John Thomas Meredith
Eveline Mary Griffiths
💍 1903/4684

Bachelor
Spinster

Bicycle Maker
Domestic Duties

22
26

Kakahu
Hilton

22 years
10 years

The House of Mr. Ephraim Griffiths, Hilton

03/4356

8 August 1903

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	635
Date of Notice	7 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Meredith	Eveline Mary Griffiths
	💍 1903/4684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bicycle Maker	Domestic Duties
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Kakahu	Hilton
Length of Residence	22 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Ephraim Griffiths, Hilton
Folio	03/4356
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

636

7 August 1903

Thomas Edward Tarbotton
Edith Sarah Pithie

Thomas Edward Tarbotton
Edith Sarah Pithie
💍 1903/4702

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
26

Scotsburn
Scotsburn

3 days
26 years

The House of Mr. James Pithie, Scotsburn

03/4358

17 August 1903

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	636
Date of Notice	7 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Tarbotton	Edith Sarah Pithie
	💍 1903/4702
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Scotsburn	Scotsburn
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. James Pithie, Scotsburn
Folio	03/4358
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

637

7 August 1903

Leslie Glanville
Elizabeth Coulter

Leslie Glanville
Elizabeth Coulter
💍 1903/4595

Bachelor
Spinster

Acting Engineer on Railway
Domestic Duties

24
21

Rangitata
Rangitata

3 days
2 years

The House of Mrs. Coulter, Rangitata

03/4415

17 August 1903

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	637
Date of Notice	7 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Glanville	Elizabeth Coulter
	💍 1903/4595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Acting Engineer on Railway	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Rangitata
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Coulter, Rangitata
Folio	03/4415
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

638

17 September 1903

George Ernest Blissett
Mary Ellen Brereton

George Ernest Blissett
Mary Ellen Brenton
💍 1903/4695

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Housemaid

30
25

Orari
Belfield

17 years
21 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

03/4357

17 September 1903

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	638
Date of Notice	17 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ernest Blissett	Mary Ellen Brereton
BDM Match (95%)	George Ernest Blissett	Mary Ellen Brenton
	💍 1903/4695
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Housemaid
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Orari	Belfield
Length of Residence	17 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	03/4357
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

639

22 September 1903

John Peter Findlay
Annie Beattie

John Paton Findlay
Anne Beattie
💍 1903/4549

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
School Teacher

32
31

Hilton
Hilton

3 days
3 months

The House of Mr. William John Beattie, Hilton

03/4391

22 September 1903

Rev. George Barclay, Presbyterian

No	639
Date of Notice	22 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peter Findlay	Annie Beattie
BDM Match (88%)	John Paton Findlay	Anne Beattie
	💍 1903/4549
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	School Teacher
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Hilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. William John Beattie, Hilton
Folio	03/4391
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Barclay, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).