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 382

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar Agnes 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

640

6 October 1903

Samuel Taylor
Bridget Earl

Henry Samuel Taylor
Bridget Earl
💍 1903/6638

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
25

Geraldine
Hillow

3 days
3 months Geraldine

Roman Catholic Presbytery

03/6642

6 October 1903

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	640
Date of Notice	6 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Taylor	Bridget Earl
BDM Match (84%)	Henry Samuel Taylor	Bridget Earl
	💍 1903/6638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Hillow
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months Geraldine
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery
Folio	03/6642
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

641

21 October 1903

Thomas Balfour
Isabel Taylor

Thomas Balfour
Isabell Taylor
💍 1903/6066

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
23

Belfield
Orari

2 years
5 years Geraldine

Presbyterian Church

03/6106

21 October 1903

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	641
Date of Notice	21 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Balfour	Isabel Taylor
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Balfour	Isabell Taylor
	💍 1903/6066
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Belfield	Orari
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years Geraldine
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	03/6106
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

642

4 November 1903

Walter Henry Martin
Fanny Jones

Walter Henry Mashin
Fanny Jones
💍 1903/6616

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Dressmaker

23
24

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 years
2 years Geraldine

Primitive Methodist Church

03/6644

4 November 1903

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	642
Date of Notice	4 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Martin	Fanny Jones
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Henry Mashin	Fanny Jones
	💍 1903/6616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years Geraldine
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church
Folio	03/6644
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

643

10 November 1903

Cornelius Brien
Honora Brophy

Cornelius Brien
Honora Bropby
💍 1903/6639

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
30

Woodbury
Pleasant Valley

6 months
30 years Geraldine

Roman Catholic Church

03/6643

10 November 1903

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	643
Date of Notice	10 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cornelius Brien	Honora Brophy
BDM Match (96%)	Cornelius Brien	Honora Bropby
	💍 1903/6639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	6 months	30 years Geraldine
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	03/6643
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

644

11 November 1903

Whitecliffe George Trengrove
Louisa Cain

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

25
17

Geraldine
Geraldine

5 years
3 days Geraldine

The House of Mr Richard Coombs

03/6645

Hans Cain, Father

11 November 1903

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	644
Date of Notice	11 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Whitecliffe George Trengrove	Louisa Cain
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days Geraldine
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Richard Coombs
Folio	03/6645
Consent	Hans Cain, Father
Date of Certificate	11 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

645

1 December 1903

Thomas McLay
Helen Ann Grindell

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
19

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
9 years Geraldine

Primitive Methodist Church

03/6646

Thomas Grindell, Father

1 December 1903

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	645
Date of Notice	1 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McLay	Helen Ann Grindell
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years Geraldine
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church
Folio	03/6646
Consent	Thomas Grindell, Father
Date of Certificate	1 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

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).