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 731

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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

12 October 1903

William Perkins
Mary Ann Craigie

William Perkins
Mary Ann Craigie
💍 1903/6265

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27 years
34 years

East Taieri, Otago
Henley, Otago

7 Days
34 years

In the House of Richard Craigie, Henley, Otago

03/6401

12 October 1903

Rev. W. H. Howes, Otokia

No	20
Date of Notice	12 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Perkins	Mary Ann Craigie
	💍 1903/6265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	East Taieri, Otago	Henley, Otago
Length of Residence	7 Days	34 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Richard Craigie, Henley, Otago
Folio	03/6401
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Howes, Otokia

12 October 1903

David Grant
Agnes Muirhead

David Grant
Agnes Muirhead
💍 1903/343

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26 years
33 years

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

5 Days
33 years

In the House of Robert Muirhead, Gordon Road, Mosgiel

03/6700

12 October 1903

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	21
Date of Notice	12 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Grant	Agnes Muirhead
	💍 1903/343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	5 Days	33 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Robert Muirhead, Gordon Road, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6700
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

24 October 1903

George Alexander McLeod
Janet Pearson Aitken

George Alexander McLeod
Janet Pearson Aitken
💍 1903/6529

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

31 years
29 years

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

31 years
29 years

In the house of Thomas Aitken, Bush Road, Mosgiel

03/6393

24 October 1903

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

No	22
Date of Notice	24 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alexander McLeod	Janet Pearson Aitken
	💍 1903/6529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	31 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	31 years	29 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Thomas Aitken, Bush Road, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6393
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

26 October 1903

John Williams
Mary Burnett

John Williams
Mary Burnett
💍 1903/344

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

39 years
27 years

East Taieri, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

25 years
20 years

In the house of Mrs Ann Burnett, Mosgiel, Otago

03/6701

26 October 1903

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	23
Date of Notice	26 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Williams	Mary Burnett
	💍 1903/344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	39 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	East Taieri, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Ann Burnett, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	03/6701
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

3 November 1903

James Ferguson Thomson
Catherine Torrance Thomson

James Ferguson Thomson
Catherina Torrance Thomson
💍 1903/6531

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

22 years
23 years

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 days
5 years

In the house of Richard Suddie, East Taieri, Otago

03/6394

3 November 1903

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

No	24
Date of Notice	3 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ferguson Thomson	Catherine Torrance Thomson
BDM Match (98%)	James Ferguson Thomson	Catherina Torrance Thomson
	💍 1903/6531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Richard Suddie, East Taieri, Otago
Folio	03/6394
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

10 November 1903

John Philipowski
Anna Gorenski

John Philipowski
Annie Gorenski
💍 1903/6266

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25 years
20 years

Allanton, Otago
Allanton, Otago

3 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago

03/6402

Joseph Gorenski, Father

14 November 1903

Rev. Father P. O'Neill, Mosgiel

No	25
Date of Notice	10 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Philipowski	Anna Gorenski
BDM Match (93%)	John Philipowski	Annie Gorenski
	💍 1903/6266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Allanton, Otago	Allanton, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago
Folio	03/6402
Consent	Joseph Gorenski, Father
Date of Certificate	14 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. O'Neill, Mosgiel

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).