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 384

District of Hororata Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar C. A. Ozone

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

143

3 January 1903

Walter John Adams
Maria Jane Revell

Walter John Adams
Maria Jane Jewell
💍 1903/1727

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

23
20

South Malvern
South Malvern

14 years
20 years

Baptist Church

03/1090

Mary Luke, mother of Bride

3 January 1903

Rev. Amos Reader, Wesleyan Minister, Warfield

No	143
Date of Notice	3 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Adams	Maria Jane Revell
BDM Match (94%)	Walter John Adams	Maria Jane Jewell
	💍 1903/1727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	South Malvern	South Malvern
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church
Folio	03/1090
Consent	Mary Luke, mother of Bride
Date of Certificate	3 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Amos Reader, Wesleyan Minister, Warfield

144

20 January 1903

Robert James Graham
Henrietta Griffiths

Robert James Graham
Henrietta Griffiths
💍 1903/1728

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

27
23

Christchurch
Hororata, Canterbury, N.Z.

20 years
23 years

St. John's Church

03/1091

20 January 1903

Rev. John H. Rogers, Church of England Minister, Sheffield

No	144
Date of Notice	20 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Graham	Henrietta Griffiths
	💍 1903/1728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Hororata, Canterbury, N.Z.
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	03/1091
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. John H. Rogers, Church of England Minister, Sheffield

145

2 February 1903

George Edward Brake
Mabel Affleck

George Edward Brake
Mabel Affleck
💍 1903/1731

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

23
19

Springfield
Glentunnel

2 years
16 years

Residence of Bride's Parents, Springfield

03/1094

James Affleck, father of Bride

2 February 1903

Rev. James Maxwell, Presbyterian Minister, Waddington

No	145
Date of Notice	2 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Brake	Mabel Affleck
	💍 1903/1731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Springfield	Glentunnel
Length of Residence	2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, Springfield
Folio	03/1094
Consent	James Affleck, father of Bride
Date of Certificate	2 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell, Presbyterian Minister, Waddington

146

19 February 1903

Andrew Bloom
Victoria Smith

Andrew Bloom
Victoria Annie Smith
💍 1903/1729

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Duties

39
22

Lyttelton
Coalgate

12 years
22 years

Town Hall, Lyttelton

03/1092

Rev. John Henry Rogers, M.A., Church of England Minister, Sheffield

No	146
Date of Notice	19 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Bloom	Victoria Smith
BDM Match (85%)	Andrew Bloom	Victoria Annie Smith
	💍 1903/1729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	39	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Coalgate
Length of Residence	12 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Town Hall, Lyttelton
Folio	03/1092
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Henry Rogers, M.A., Church of England Minister, Sheffield

147

26 February 1903

Morgan Davies
Mary Jane Ladjdale

Morgan Davies
Mary Jane Langdale
💍 1903/1730

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Hororata
Coalgate, N.Z.

25 years
20 years

St. John's Church, Hororata

03/1093

Rev. John Henry Rogers, M.A., Church of England Minister, Sheffield

No	147
Date of Notice	26 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Morgan Davies	Mary Jane Ladjdale
BDM Match (94%)	Morgan Davies	Mary Jane Langdale
	💍 1903/1730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Hororata	Coalgate, N.Z.
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Hororata
Folio	03/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Henry Rogers, M.A., Church of England Minister, Sheffield

148

9 March 1903

Robert Hunter
Rachel Nicol

Robert Hunter
Rachel Nicol
💍 1903/1732

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
22

Lyttelton
Glentunnel

24 years
22 years

Residence of Bride's Parents, Glentunnel

03/1095

Rev. James Maxwell, Presbyterian Minister, Waddington

No	148
Date of Notice	9 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hunter	Rachel Nicol
	💍 1903/1732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Glentunnel
Length of Residence	24 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, Glentunnel
Folio	03/1095
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell, Presbyterian Minister, Waddington

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).