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 506

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar Alex. Montgomery

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

1 October 1903

John Alexander Millar
Sarah Finlay

John Alexander Miller
Sarah Finlay
💍 1903/5932

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
School-teacher

29 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

27 years
15 years

Dwelling-house of M. B. Kardon, High St. Timaru

03/6177

1 October 1903

Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	1 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Millar	Sarah Finlay
BDM Match (98%)	John Alexander Miller	Sarah Finlay
	💍 1903/5932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	School-teacher
Age	29 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	27 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling-house of M. B. Kardon, High St. Timaru
Folio	03/6177
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

6 October 1903

Jacob James Goulding
Kathleen Thruan

Joseph James Goulding
Kathleen Shewan
💍 1903/6315

Bachelor
Spinster

Millar
Tailoress

22 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

22 years
22 years

Dwelling-house of Rev. Thomas Stinson, Timaru

03/6183

6 October 1903

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	6 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob James Goulding	Kathleen Thruan
BDM Match (78%)	Joseph James Goulding	Kathleen Shewan
	💍 1903/6315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millar	Tailoress
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling-house of Rev. Thomas Stinson, Timaru
Folio	03/6183
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

13 October 1903

Albert Edward Izzard
Catherine Sarah Gurnsey

Albert Edward Izzard
Catherine Sarah Gurney
💍 1903/5927

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Shop Assistant

26 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 months
21 years

English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru

03/6167

13 October 1903

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	67
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Izzard	Catherine Sarah Gurnsey
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Izzard	Catherine Sarah Gurney
	💍 1903/5927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Shop Assistant
Age	26 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 months	21 years
Marriage Place	English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru
Folio	03/6167
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

19 October 1903

William Charles Taylor
Caroline Hay

William Charles Taylor
Caroline Hay
💍 1903/6314

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Duties

26 years
21 years

Timaru
Saitihi Point, Timaru

16 years
5 years

Dwelling-house of George Hay, Saitihi St. Timaru

03/6182

19 October 1903

Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	68
Date of Notice	19 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Taylor	Caroline Hay
	💍 1903/6314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Saitihi Point, Timaru
Length of Residence	16 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling-house of George Hay, Saitihi St. Timaru
Folio	03/6182
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist Minister

19 October 1903

Joseph Heskith
Hannah Sharanson Gurrad

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
35

Otaio Station
Timaru

2 years
3 days

Congregational Church, Timaru

03/6181

19 October 1903

Rev. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	69
Date of Notice	19 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Heskith	Hannah Sharanson Gurrad
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	35
Dwelling Place	Otaio Station	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Timaru
Folio	03/6181
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

20 October 1903

Michael Francis Burns
Ellen Louisa Lounay

Michael Francis Burns
Nellie Teresa Louney
💍 1903/5931

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25 years
24 years

Levels Plains
Levels Plains

24 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

03/6170

20 October 1903

Rev. J. Sulman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	70
Date of Notice	20 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Francis Burns	Ellen Louisa Lounay
BDM Match (78%)	Michael Francis Burns	Nellie Teresa Louney
	💍 1903/5931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Levels Plains	Levels Plains
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	03/6170
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sulman, Roman Catholic Priest

22 October 1903

Robert Henry Whitley
Julia Ellen Birkhaut

Robert Henry Whitley
Julia Ellen Brehaut
💍 1903/6145

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

24 years
27 years

Timaru
Timaru

15 years
27 years

Dwelling-house of James Birkhaut, Buchanan's Paddock, Timaru

03/6179

22 October 1903

Rev. S. J. Sarfall, Wesleyan Minister

No	71
Date of Notice	22 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Whitley	Julia Ellen Birkhaut
BDM Match (95%)	Robert Henry Whitley	Julia Ellen Brehaut
	💍 1903/6145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	24 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	15 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling-house of James Birkhaut, Buchanan's Paddock, Timaru
Folio	03/6179
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Sarfall, Wesleyan Minister

28 October 1903

Thomas Gilbarn
Margaret Minnie Drymond

Thomas Kilbom
Margaret Minnie Dymond
💍 1903/5926

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic Servant

34 years
26 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 months
1 week

English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru

03/6166

28 October 1903

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	72
Date of Notice	28 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Gilbarn	Margaret Minnie Drymond
BDM Match (84%)	Thomas Kilbom	Margaret Minnie Dymond
	💍 1903/5926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Servant
Age	34 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 months	1 week
Marriage Place	English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru
Folio	03/6166
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

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).