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 643

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 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

167

9 April 1903

Van Daine
Annie Guthrie

Van Paine
Annie Guthrie
💍 1903/3308

Widower
Spinster

Waiter

35
31

Dunedin
Mornington

29 years
31 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin

03/3049

9 April 1903

P. Lleaphy

No	167
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Van Daine	Annie Guthrie
BDM Match (94%)	Van Paine	Annie Guthrie
	💍 1903/3308
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	29 years	31 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	03/3049
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	P. Lleaphy

168

9 April 1903

Leslie Ashcroft Edwards
Louisa Sarah Willson

Leslie Ashcroft Edwards
Louisa Sarah Willson
💍 1903/3794

Bachelor
Spinster

Importer
Teacher

29
34

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
2 months

In the house of Mrs. Frances J. Willson, 329 George Street, Dunedin

03/3089

9 April 1903

Wm. Saunders

No	168
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Ashcroft Edwards	Louisa Sarah Willson
	💍 1903/3794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Importer	Teacher
Age	29	34
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Frances J. Willson, 329 George Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/3089
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

169

9 April 1903

Edward Norman Campbell
Clara Ellen Stanhope

Edward Norman Campbell
Clara Ellen Stanhope
💍 1903/3722

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

26
23

Dunedin
Roslyn

26 years
20 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/2967

9 April 1903

H. Maxwell

No	169
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Norman Campbell	Clara Ellen Stanhope
	💍 1903/3722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/2967
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

170

9 April 1903

George William Holden
Frances Hannah Pope

George William Holden
Frances Hannah Pope
💍 1903/3340

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Machinist

31
26

Caversham
Caversham

7 months
7 months

In the house of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Pope, Grosvenor Street, Caversham

03/3063

9 April 1903

W. A. Sinclair

No	170
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Holden	Frances Hannah Pope
	💍 1903/3340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Machinist
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Pope, Grosvenor Street, Caversham
Folio	03/3063
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

171

9 April 1903

Francis Payne
Rachael McGregor

Francis Payne
Rachel McGregor
💍 1903/3347

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter

23
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
24 years

In the house of Mr. Peter McGregor, 53 Arthur Street, Dunedin

03/3065

9 April 1903

W. A. Sinclair

No	171
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Payne	Rachael McGregor
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Payne	Rachel McGregor
	💍 1903/3347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Peter McGregor, 53 Arthur Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/3065
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

172

11 April 1903

Andrew Hosie
Elizabeth Richardson

Andrew Hosie
Elizabeth Richardson
💍 1903/3756

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Dressmaker

24
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 month

In the First Church, Dunedin

03/3025

11 April 1903

Jas. Gibb

No	172
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Hosie	Elizabeth Richardson
	💍 1903/3756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	03/3025
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Jas. Gibb

173

11 April 1903

Thomas Hessian
Agnes Moore

Thomas Hessian
Agnes Moore
💍 1903/3309

Widower
Spinster

Painter

32
23

Roslyn
Dunedin

32 years
20 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

03/3050

11 April 1903

P. Lleaphy

No	173
Date of Notice	11 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hessian	Agnes Moore
	💍 1903/3309
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	32 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	03/3050
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1903
Officiating Minister	P. Lleaphy

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).