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 621

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

13 February 1903

William Henry Ronald Tate
Mabel Maude Russell

William Henry Reynolds Teape
Mabel Warren Russell
💍 1903/1084

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

28 years
23 years

Dunedin
Christchurch

18 months
12 years

Wesleyan Church, Christchurch

03/1073

13 February 1903

C. H. Laws

No	44
Date of Notice	13 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Ronald Tate	Mabel Maude Russell
BDM Match (79%)	William Henry Reynolds Teape	Mabel Warren Russell
	💍 1903/1084
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Christchurch
Folio	03/1073
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1903
Officiating Minister	C. H. Laws

13 February 1903

Robert Henry Kelley
Ellen Esther Godfrey

Robert Henry Holley
Lilian Esther Godfrey
💍 1903/1093

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22 years
22 years

North East Valley
Stuart Street, Dunedin

14 days
2 years

St. Paul's Cathedral

03/1209

13 February 1903

C. G. Robinson

No	45
Date of Notice	13 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Kelley	Ellen Esther Godfrey
BDM Match (85%)	Robert Henry Holley	Lilian Esther Godfrey
	💍 1903/1093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Stuart Street, Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Cathedral
Folio	03/1209
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1903
Officiating Minister	C. G. Robinson

14 February 1903

Herman Douglas Baylis
Elizabeth Baylis

Herman Urquhart
Elizabeth Bayliss
💍 1903/1040

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

21 years
15 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

21 years
15 years

In the house of Harry Edwards, 63 David Street, Dunedin

03/1232

Harry Edwards, father

14 February 1903

Wm. Hewitson

No	46
Date of Notice	14 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herman Douglas Baylis	Elizabeth Baylis
BDM Match (66%)	Herman Urquhart	Elizabeth Bayliss
	💍 1903/1040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	21 years	15 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Harry Edwards, 63 David Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1232
Consent	Harry Edwards, father
Date of Certificate	14 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

16 February 1903

John Jolly
Betsy Mary Ann Dymock

John Jolly
Betsy Hughan
💍 1903/1005

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

28 years
28 years

Caversham
Caversham

6 months
18 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/1194

16 February 1903

Hillacourt Rey

No	47
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jolly	Betsy Mary Ann Dymock
BDM Match (67%)	John Jolly	Betsy Hughan
	💍 1903/1005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	6 months	18 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/1194
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Hillacourt Rey

16 February 1903

Robert Henry Legge
Jane Elizabeth Dimmock

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Dressmaker

32 years
32 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 months
8 years

First Church, Dunedin

03/1245

16 February 1903

Jas. Gibb

No	48
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Legge	Jane Elizabeth Dimmock
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Dressmaker
Age	32 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	8 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Dunedin
Folio	03/1245
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Jas. Gibb

16 February 1903

William John Stewart
Eliza Annie Maori Hill

William John Stewart
Eleanor Louise McKenzie
💍 1903/1041

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

33 years
22 years

Dunedin
Maori Hill

33 years
2 years

In the house of Mr. Peter Bellan

03/1233

16 February 1903

Wm. Hewitson

No	49
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Stewart	Eliza Annie Maori Hill
BDM Match (63%)	William John Stewart	Eleanor Louise McKenzie
	💍 1903/1041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	33 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	33 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Peter Bellan
Folio	03/1233
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

16 February 1903

Charles William Henry Henderson
Jane Grace Henderson

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook

23 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. Charles Hooper, 305 George Street, Dunedin

03/1234

Mary Henderson, grand mother

16 February 1903

Wm. Hewitson

No	50
Date of Notice	16 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Henry Henderson	Jane Grace Henderson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Charles Hooper, 305 George Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1234
Consent	Mary Henderson, grand mother
Date of Certificate	16 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

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).