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 804

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 30 June 1903 Registrar John Gammon Petrie

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

2 April 1903

Charles Buller
Ethel May Lee

Charlie Butler
Ethel May Lee
💍 1903/3284

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Dressmaker

25
18

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL

3 Days
4 Days

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

No one in the Colony having authority

2 April 1903

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	52
Date of Notice	2 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Buller	Ethel May Lee
BDM Match (89%)	Charlie Butler	Ethel May Lee
	💍 1903/3284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Dressmaker
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 Days	4 Days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio
Consent	No one in the Colony having authority
Date of Certificate	2 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

2 April 1903

Thomas Frederick Hammond
Janet Fleming

Francis Frederick Horman
Janet Fleming
💍 1903/3837

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
29

Waikivi, INVERCARGILL
Forth Street, INVERCARGILL

25 years
29 years

First Church Manse, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

03/3161

2 April 1903

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	53
Date of Notice	2 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frederick Hammond	Janet Fleming
BDM Match (79%)	Francis Frederick Horman	Janet Fleming
	💍 1903/3837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Waikivi, INVERCARGILL	Forth Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	25 years	29 years
Marriage Place	First Church Manse, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/3161
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

4 April 1903

James Fillery
Esther Matilda Howard

James Fillery
Hettie Stroud
💍 1903/4712

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachmaker
Domestic

31
19

Foxbury, INVERCARGILL
Leet Street, INVERCARGILL

2 years
1 1/2 years

Residence of Mrs Howard, Leet Street, INVERCARGILL

03/4665

4 April 1903

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	54
Date of Notice	4 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fillery	Esther Matilda Howard
BDM Match (62%)	James Fillery	Hettie Stroud
	💍 1903/4712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachmaker	Domestic
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Foxbury, INVERCARGILL	Leet Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Howard, Leet Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/4665
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

4 April 1903

James Gray Peters
Emily Louisa Amos

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Domestic

28
24

Leet Street, INVERCARGILL
Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL

28 years
24 years

Residence of Mrs Geo Allen, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL

03/3159

4 April 1903

Rev. Gibson Smith

No	55
Date of Notice	4 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gray Peters	Emily Louisa Amos
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, INVERCARGILL	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	28 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Geo Allen, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/3159
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Gibson Smith

6 April 1903

William Robertson
Florence Emma Popham

William Oliver Simons
Florence Emma Popham
💍 1903/4711

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
21

Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Lewis Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
2 days

Residence of Sarah Indian, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL

03/4664

6 April 1903

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	56
Date of Notice	6 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robertson	Florence Emma Popham
BDM Match (79%)	William Oliver Simons	Florence Emma Popham
	💍 1903/4711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL	Lewis Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	2 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Sarah Indian, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/4664
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

6 April 1903

Charles Ernest Griffiths
Agnes Tannock

Charles Ernest Griffiths
Agnes Tannock
💍 1903/3826

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Domestic

36
29

Princes Street South, INVERCARGILL
Dalrymple Road South, INVERCARGILL

29 years
29 years

Residence of Mary Tannock, South, INVERCARGILL

03/3160

6 April 1903

Rev. Gibson Smith

No	57
Date of Notice	6 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ernest Griffiths	Agnes Tannock
	💍 1903/3826
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Domestic
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Princes Street South, INVERCARGILL	Dalrymple Road South, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	29 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Tannock, South, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/3160
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Gibson Smith

9 April 1903

William George Tait
Annie Hay Hendry

William George Tait
Annie Hay Hendry
💍 1903/3810

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

27
30

Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL
Gala Street, INVERCARGILL

1 1/3 years
7 months

Residence of Dr. Hendry, Gala Street, INVERCARGILL

03/3152

9 April 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	58
Date of Notice	9 April 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Tait	Annie Hay Hendry
	💍 1903/3810
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL	Gala Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 1/3 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Dr. Hendry, Gala Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	03/3152
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

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 1908. 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).