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 627

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 March 1903

Henry Beveridge McIntosh
Amelia Frances Blunden

Henry Beveridge McIntosh
Amelia Frances Blunden
💍 1903/2007

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

23 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 years
18 years

In the house of the Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Fernhill Street, Dunedin

03/1282

Alice Book, Aunt and guardian

13 March 1903

W. A. Sinclair

No	83
Date of Notice	13 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Beveridge McIntosh	Amelia Frances Blunden
	💍 1903/2007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Fernhill Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1282
Consent	Alice Book, Aunt and guardian
Date of Certificate	13 March 1903
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

13 March 1903

Thomas Henry Wilson
Rosina Hicks

Thomas Henry Wilson
Rosina Hicks
💍 1903/2014

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Cleaner

25 years
23 years

Caversham
Caversham

15 months
3 days

In the house of Mr. Peter Fraser, David Street, Caversham

03/1291

13 March 1903

R. V. G. Chandler

No	84
Date of Notice	13 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Wilson	Rosina Hicks
	💍 1903/2014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Cleaner
Age	25 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	15 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Peter Fraser, David Street, Caversham
Folio	03/1291
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1903
Officiating Minister	R. V. G. Chandler

14 March 1903

Harry Penfell
Rosie Bridges

Harry Benfell
Rosy Bridges
💍 1903/3742

Bachelor
Spinster

Preserver
Machinist

24 years
20 years

North East Valley
Caversham

6 weeks
6 weeks

In the Manse of the Rev. I. K. McIntyre, Cumberland Street, Dunedin

03/3010

Jane Elizabeth Bridges, Mother

14 March 1903

I. K. McIntyre

No	85
Date of Notice	14 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Penfell	Rosie Bridges
BDM Match (88%)	Harry Benfell	Rosy Bridges
	💍 1903/3742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Preserver	Machinist
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Caversham
Length of Residence	6 weeks	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Manse of the Rev. I. K. McIntyre, Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/3010
Consent	Jane Elizabeth Bridges, Mother
Date of Certificate	14 March 1903
Officiating Minister	I. K. McIntyre

16 March 1903

John Charles Watters Townsend
Elizabeth Jane Townsend

John Charles Walters
Elizabeth Jane Townsend
💍 1903/1351

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employe

26 years
18 years

Mornington
Mornington

36 years
2 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/1203

Matthew Townsend, father

16 March 1903

H. Maxwell, Reg.

No	86
Date of Notice	16 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Watters Townsend	Elizabeth Jane Townsend
BDM Match (83%)	John Charles Walters	Elizabeth Jane Townsend
	💍 1903/1351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employe
Age	26 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	36 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/1203
Consent	Matthew Townsend, father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1903
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell, Reg.

16 March 1903

Egbert Sainsbury Ramsay
Janet Whitelaw Ramsay

Egbert Sainsbury
Janet Whitelaw Ramsay
💍 1903/1957

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

31 years
24 years

Green Island
Green Island

3 days
26 years

In the house of Mr. Andrew Ramsay, Green Island

03/1494

16 March 1903

Michael Watt

No	87
Date of Notice	16 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Egbert Sainsbury Ramsay	Janet Whitelaw Ramsay
BDM Match (85%)	Egbert Sainsbury	Janet Whitelaw Ramsay
	💍 1903/1957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	31 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Andrew Ramsay, Green Island
Folio	03/1494
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Michael Watt

16 March 1903

William Henry Ramsay
Louisa Maria Bailey

William Henry Ramsay
Louisa Maria Bailey
💍 1903/1107

Bachelor
Spinster

Wireworker

32 years
30 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

32 years
30 years

In St. Matthew's Church, Stafford Street, Dunedin

03/1293

16 March 1903

Wm. Curzon-Siggers

No	88
Date of Notice	16 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Ramsay	Louisa Maria Bailey
	💍 1903/1107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wireworker
Age	32 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	32 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In St. Matthew's Church, Stafford Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1293
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Curzon-Siggers

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).