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 889

District of Naseby Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar F. M. Howard

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

138

5 October 1903

Alexander Clarke
Frances Kate Dowle

Alexander Clarke
Frances Kate Dowle
💍 1903/3266

Bachelor
Spinster

Rabbit Agent
Domestic

27
28

Clyde
Waipiata

1 month
7 years

St. Clement's Anglican Church

03/6484

5 October 1903

Rev. Geo. Christian

No	138
Date of Notice	5 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Clarke	Frances Kate Dowle
	💍 1903/3266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rabbit Agent	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Clyde	Waipiata
Length of Residence	1 month	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Clement's Anglican Church
Folio	03/6484
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Christian

139

13 October 1903

Joseph Stephen Smith
Miriam Moore

Joseph Stephen Smith
Miriam Moore
💍 1903/3267

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

29
22

Lawrence
Naseby

3 months
22 years

St. George's Anglican Church, Naseby

03/6485

13 October 1903

Rev. H. Christian

No	139
Date of Notice	13 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Stephen Smith	Miriam Moore
	💍 1903/3267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Naseby
Length of Residence	3 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Anglican Church, Naseby
Folio	03/6485
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Christian

140

15 October 1903

Patrick Dowling
Catherine Dora Sharkey

Patrick Dowling
Catherine Dora Sharkey
💍 1903/367

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
27

Wedderburn
Gimmerburn

3 months
27 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ranfurly

03/6750

15 October 1903

Rev. M. A. McMullan

No	140
Date of Notice	15 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Dowling	Catherine Dora Sharkey
	💍 1903/367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Wedderburn	Gimmerburn
Length of Residence	3 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ranfurly
Folio	03/6750
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. McMullan

141

12 November 1903

William Francis White
Jessie Rebecca Byford

William Frank White
Jessie Rebecca Byford
💍 1903/6465

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

24
19

Naseby
Naseby

24 years
19 years

St. George's Anglican Church, Naseby

03/6486

Jessie Rebecca Byford, mother

12 November 1903

Rev. H. Christian

No	141
Date of Notice	12 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis White	Jessie Rebecca Byford
BDM Match (93%)	William Frank White	Jessie Rebecca Byford
	💍 1903/6465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Naseby	Naseby
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Anglican Church, Naseby
Folio	03/6486
Consent	Jessie Rebecca Byford, mother
Date of Certificate	12 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Christian

142

13 November 1903

John Henry Ellison
Olive Sleeman Reed

John Henry Ellison
Olive Sleeman Reed
💍 1903/6466

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

28
25

Naseby
Naseby

1 year
25 years

Mr. J. M. Reed's Private House

03/6487

13 November 1903

Rev. J. McCosh Smith

No	142
Date of Notice	13 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Ellison	Olive Sleeman Reed
	💍 1903/6466
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Naseby	Naseby
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. M. Reed's Private House
Folio	03/6487
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McCosh Smith

143

21 November 1903

Angus Hugh Mackay
Sarah Jane Woodall

Angus Hugh Mackay
Sarah Jane McDonald
💍 1903/6467

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

27
23

Kyeburn Station
Naseby

11 months
2 years

Mr. David Mowatt's Private Residence

03/6488

21 November 1903

Rev. J. McCosh Smith

No	143
Date of Notice	21 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus Hugh Mackay	Sarah Jane Woodall
BDM Match (87%)	Angus Hugh Mackay	Sarah Jane McDonald
	💍 1903/6467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Kyeburn Station	Naseby
Length of Residence	11 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Mr. David Mowatt's Private Residence
Folio	03/6488
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McCosh Smith

144

8 December 1903

George Livingston Shaw
Winifred May Drew

George Livingston
Winifred May Shaw
💍 1903/6468

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent
Domestic

23
24

Dunedin
Naseby

4 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Naseby

03/6489

21 December 1903

Rev. J. McCosh Smith

No	144
Date of Notice	8 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Livingston Shaw	Winifred May Drew
BDM Match (80%)	George Livingston	Winifred May Shaw
	💍 1903/6468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Naseby
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Naseby
Folio	03/6489
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McCosh Smith

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).