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 617

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

151

5 January 1903

David Cooper
Mary Ellen Knight

David Cooper
Mary Alice Wright
💍 1903/3337

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
20 years

St. Paul's Church of England, Castle Street, Dunedin

03/3078

Father

12 January 1903

J. Hand

No	151
Date of Notice	5 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Cooper	Mary Ellen Knight
BDM Match (82%)	David Cooper	Mary Alice Wright
	💍 1903/3337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church of England, Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/3078
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	12 January 1903
Officiating Minister	J. Hand

152

8 January 1903

George Faul
Annie Williamson

George Leith
Agnes Williamson
💍 1903/1024

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

30
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
22 years

St. Andrew's Church, Dunedin

03/1239

13 January 1903

R. Haddell

No	152
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Faul	Annie Williamson
BDM Match (70%)	George Leith	Agnes Williamson
	💍 1903/1024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Dunedin
Folio	03/1239
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1903
Officiating Minister	R. Haddell

153

8 January 1903

John Templeton
Isabella Watson

John Templeton Robson
Isabella Jenkins Watson
💍 1903/1025

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

23
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 weeks
25 years

Residence of Mr. John Watson, 107 Castle Street, Dunedin

03/1940

16 January 1903

R. Haddell

No	153
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Templeton	Isabella Watson
BDM Match (66%)	John Templeton Robson	Isabella Jenkins Watson
	💍 1903/1025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 weeks	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Watson, 107 Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1940
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1903
Officiating Minister	R. Haddell

154

19 January 1903

George Kirk Campbell
Catherine Kilpatrick

George Peter Campbell
Catherine Kilpatrick
💍 1903/1002

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
5 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/1191

John Kilpatrick, Father

19 January 1903

H. Maxwell, R.

No	154
Date of Notice	19 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kirk Campbell	Catherine Kilpatrick
BDM Match (88%)	George Peter Campbell	Catherine Kilpatrick
	💍 1903/1002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/1191
Consent	John Kilpatrick, Father
Date of Certificate	19 January 1903
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell, R.

155

19 January 1903

William Francis
Jessie Hill Robb

William Francis
Jessie Neill Robb
💍 1903/1777

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
20

Portobello
Portobello

26 years
20 years

In the home of Mr. James Neill, Hooper's Inlet

03/1261

19 January 1903

Alex. Gregg

No	155
Date of Notice	19 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis	Jessie Hill Robb
BDM Match (94%)	William Francis	Jessie Neill Robb
	💍 1903/1777
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Portobello	Portobello
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the home of Mr. James Neill, Hooper's Inlet
Folio	03/1261
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Alex. Gregg

156

20 January 1903

John Gordon McLeod
Nellie Florence Logie

John Gordon McLeod
Nellie Naomi Logie
💍 1903/1786

Bachelor
Spinster

Presbyterian Minister

30
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
27 years

In the home of Mr. Walter Logie, 28 Cargill Street, Dunedin

03/1951

20 January 1903

A. Cameron

No	156
Date of Notice	20 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gordon McLeod	Nellie Florence Logie
BDM Match (83%)	John Gordon McLeod	Nellie Naomi Logie
	💍 1903/1786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presbyterian Minister
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	In the home of Mr. Walter Logie, 28 Cargill Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1951
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1903
Officiating Minister	A. Cameron

157

20 January 1903

Joseph Smith
Mary Elizabeth Ellen Glynn

Joseph Smith
Mary Elizabeth Ellen Clyma
💍 1903/1099

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman

25
23

South Dunedin
Dunedin

16 years
3 years

St. Peter's Church, Caversham

03/1915

20 January 1903

Bill King

No	157
Date of Notice	20 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Smith	Mary Elizabeth Ellen Glynn
BDM Match (94%)	Joseph Smith	Mary Elizabeth Ellen Clyma
	💍 1903/1099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	03/1915
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Bill King

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).