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 664

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 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

296

13 July 1903

William Henry Hocking Thomas
Sarah Louisa McIntosh

William Henry Hocking Thomas
Sarah Louisa McIntosh
💍 1903/4639

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Machinist

32 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 months
23 years

In the house of Mr Elsden O. Cooper, 13 Grange Street, Dunedin

03/4613

13 July 1903

W.S. Fernie

No	296
Date of Notice	13 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hocking Thomas	Sarah Louisa McIntosh
	💍 1903/4639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Machinist
Age	32 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 months	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Elsden O. Cooper, 13 Grange Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/4613
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1903
Officiating Minister	W.S. Fernie

297

13 July 1903

Harry Francis Owen
Janet Samson

Harry Travers Owen
Janet Samson
💍 1903/4674

Widower
Spinster

Agent

59 years
45 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
10 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/4498

13 July 1903

H Maxwell Registrar

No	297
Date of Notice	13 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Francis Owen	Janet Samson
BDM Match (89%)	Harry Travers Owen	Janet Samson
	💍 1903/4674
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	59 years	45 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/4498
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1903
Officiating Minister	H Maxwell Registrar

298

15 July 1903

Harry Cross
Kate Maude Harrison

Harry Cross
Kate Maude Harrison
💍 1903/4893

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

25 years
26 years

Burnside
Burnside

3 days
3 months

In St Mark's Church, Green Island

03/4529

15 July 1903

Edgar Ward

No	298
Date of Notice	15 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cross	Kate Maude Harrison
	💍 1903/4893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Burnside	Burnside
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In St Mark's Church, Green Island
Folio	03/4529
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Edgar Ward

299

16 July 1903

George Connor
Louisa Jones

George Connor
Louisa Jones
💍 1903/4859

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber orderman

25 years
36 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
6 years

In the house of Mr Peter Jones, 44 Howe Street, Dunedin

03/4596

16 July 1903

Arthur Hopper

No	299
Date of Notice	16 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Connor	Louisa Jones
	💍 1903/4859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber orderman
Age	25 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Peter Jones, 44 Howe Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/4596
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Arthur Hopper

300

17 July 1903

Andrew Smaill
Florence Appleton

Andrew Smaill
Florence Appleton
💍 1903/35

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

23 years
22 years

Opoho
Dunedin

4 days
1 week

In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin

03/4604

17 July 1903

Wm. Hay

No	300
Date of Notice	17 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Smaill	Florence Appleton
	💍 1903/35
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Opoho	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	1 week
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/4604
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hay

301

18 July 1903

Samuel Richard Smith
Mary McKitterick

Samuel Richard Smith
Mary McKitterick
💍 1903/4826

Bachelor
Spinster

Striker
Hosier

24 years
22 years

South Dunedin
St Kilda

5 years
22 years

In the house of Mr Robert McKitterick, Young Street, St Kilda

03/4563

18 July 1903

R. Mackie

No	301
Date of Notice	18 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Richard Smith	Mary McKitterick
	💍 1903/4826
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Striker	Hosier
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	St Kilda
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Robert McKitterick, Young Street, St Kilda
Folio	03/4563
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1903
Officiating Minister	R. Mackie

302

21 July 1903

Alexander Morris
Florence Isabella Mary Andrews

Alexander Morris
Florence Isabella Mary Andrews
💍 1903/4833

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

20 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
8 months

In St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

03/4570

Alexander Morris Senr, Father

21 July 1903

P. Murphy

No	302
Date of Notice	21 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Morris	Florence Isabella Mary Andrews
	💍 1903/4833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	20 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	8 months
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	03/4570
Consent	Alexander Morris Senr, Father
Date of Certificate	21 July 1903
Officiating Minister	P. Murphy

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).