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 414

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar J. Fitz-Gerald

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

4 April 1903

Harry Mills
Annie Mutledge

Harry Mills
Annie Rutledge
💍 1903/2945

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Shunter

30
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

4 days
10 years

House of Mr. Mutledge, Lyttelton

03/2812

6 April 1903

Rev. A. A. Treadwell

No	9
Date of Notice	4 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Mills	Annie Mutledge
BDM Match (96%)	Harry Mills	Annie Rutledge
	💍 1903/2945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Shunter
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Mutledge, Lyttelton
Folio	03/2812
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Treadwell

7 April 1903

Thomas Attwood
Elizabeth Anna Tranquore

Thomas Hempstalle
Elizabeth Anna Trengrove
💍 1903/3881

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Laborer

23
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

23 years
7 years

St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton

03/3076

7 April 1903

Rev. E. C. Chambers

No	10
Date of Notice	7 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Attwood	Elizabeth Anna Tranquore
BDM Match (65%)	Thomas Hempstalle	Elizabeth Anna Trengrove
	💍 1903/3881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Laborer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	23 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton
Folio	03/3076
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Chambers

28 April 1903

Guy Hosbey Ronalds
Irene Clementina Bracroft Wilson

Guy Fosbery Ronalds
Irene Clementina Cracroft Wilson
💍 1903/2965

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

29
21

Lyttelton
Christchurch

3 days
21 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton

03/2807

28 April 1903

J. Fitz-Gerald

No	11
Date of Notice	28 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Guy Hosbey Ronalds	Irene Clementina Bracroft Wilson
BDM Match (93%)	Guy Fosbery Ronalds	Irene Clementina Cracroft Wilson
	💍 1903/2965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton
Folio	03/2807
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1903
Officiating Minister	J. Fitz-Gerald

5 May 1903

James Nathan Neville
Lily Elizabeth Surridge

James Nathan Neville
Lily Elizabeth Derbridge
💍 1903/3882

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

25
25

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 1/2 years
5 years

St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton

03/3077

5 May 1903

Rev. C. H. Coudes

No	12
Date of Notice	5 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Nathan Neville	Lily Elizabeth Surridge
BDM Match (94%)	James Nathan Neville	Lily Elizabeth Derbridge
	💍 1903/3882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton
Folio	03/3077
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Coudes

4 May 1903

Henry Anthony Genet
Margaret Dunlop

Henry Anthony Genet
Margaret Dunlop
💍 1903/2946

Bachelor
Spinster

Wharf Laborer
Domestic Servant

24
25

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 1/2 years
1 week

At residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Genet, Selwyn Valley

03/2813

4 May 1903

Rev. A. A. Treadwell

No	13
Date of Notice	4 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Anthony Genet	Margaret Dunlop
	💍 1903/2946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wharf Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	1 week
Marriage Place	At residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Genet, Selwyn Valley
Folio	03/2813
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Treadwell

29 May 1903

Thomas Ure Ross
Elizabeth Himalaya Findlay

Thomas Ure Ross
Elizabeth Himalaya Findlay
💍 1903/196

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Dressmaker

25
24

Lyttelton
Christchurch

9 months
7 years

At house of Mr. Findlay, Worcester St., Christchurch

03/4344

29 May 1903

Rev. A. R. S. V. Le Gray

No	14
Date of Notice	29 May 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ure Ross	Elizabeth Himalaya Findlay
	💍 1903/196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Dressmaker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	7 years
Marriage Place	At house of Mr. Findlay, Worcester St., Christchurch
Folio	03/4344
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. R. S. V. Le Gray

6 June 1903

James Burbery
Edith Clara Roehmer

James Burbery
Gertrude Clara Boehmer
💍 1903/2947

Divorced
Spinster

Regimental Sergeant Major, R.N.Z.A.

40
25

Heathcote
Heathcote

7 years
9 months

At residence of Mr. Jas. Burbery, Heathcote Valley

03/2814

6 June 1903

Rev. A. A. Treadwell

No	15
Date of Notice	6 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Burbery	Edith Clara Roehmer
BDM Match (82%)	James Burbery	Gertrude Clara Boehmer
	💍 1903/2947
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Regimental Sergeant Major, R.N.Z.A.
Age	40	25
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Heathcote
Length of Residence	7 years	9 months
Marriage Place	At residence of Mr. Jas. Burbery, Heathcote Valley
Folio	03/2814
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Treadwell

5 June 1903

Francis Richard Gorman
Sarah Ann Mutledge

Francis Richard Forman
Sarah Ann Rutledge
💍 1903/2944

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

23
22

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

23 years
22 years

At residence of Mr. J. R. Mutledge, Lyttelton

03/2811

5 June 1903

Rev. J. A. Susford

No	16
Date of Notice	5 June 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Richard Gorman	Sarah Ann Mutledge
BDM Match (95%)	Francis Richard Forman	Sarah Ann Rutledge
	💍 1903/2944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At residence of Mr. J. R. Mutledge, Lyttelton
Folio	03/2811
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Susford

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).