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 955

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 September 1903 Registrar Thomas Hincherff

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 July 1903

John Comrie Campbell
Ellen Green

John Comrie Campbell
Ellen Green
💍 1903/4743

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
17

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

7 months
16 years

House of Mrs. L. Green, Port Chalmers

03/4721

George Green, father

2 July 1903

Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

No	12
Date of Notice	2 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Comrie Campbell	Ellen Green
	💍 1903/4743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 months	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. L. Green, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/4721
Consent	George Green, father
Date of Certificate	2 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

15 July 1903

Alfred James Barlow
Bertha Rose Cowan

Alfred James Barlow
Bertha Rose Cowan
💍 1903/4744

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
20

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

12 months
20 years

House of Mrs. A. Cowan, Port Chalmers

03/4722

Allan Cowan, father

15 July 1903

Rev. Edward Taylor, Congregational

No	13
Date of Notice	15 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Barlow	Bertha Rose Cowan
	💍 1903/4744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	12 months	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. A. Cowan, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/4722
Consent	Allan Cowan, father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Taylor, Congregational

22 July 1903

John Jenkins Collier
Evelyn Mason

John Jenkin Collier
Evelyn Mason
💍 1903/6560

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Domestic

25
24

Carey's Bay, Port Chalmers
Deborah Bay, Port Chalmers

7 years
16 years

Wesleyan Church, Port Chalmers

03/6576

22 July 1903

Rev. Paul Wingard Fairclough, Wesleyan

No	14
Date of Notice	22 July 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jenkins Collier	Evelyn Mason
BDM Match (98%)	John Jenkin Collier	Evelyn Mason
	💍 1903/6560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Carey's Bay, Port Chalmers	Deborah Bay, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6576
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Paul Wingard Fairclough, Wesleyan

3 August 1903

Francis Bell King
Henrietta Kelly

Francis Bell King
Henrietta Kelly
💍 1903/4746

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Domestic

25
26

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
26 years

House of Mrs. Jessie Kelly, Wickliffe Terrace, Port Chalmers

03/4724

3 August 1903

Rev. Edward Bowper Tennent, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	3 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Bell King	Henrietta Kelly
	💍 1903/4746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Domestic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Jessie Kelly, Wickliffe Terrace, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/4724
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Bowper Tennent, Presbyterian

11 August 1903

John Holland
Isabella May

John Holland
Isabella Hay
💍 1903/3236

Robert Holland
Isabella Lyske
💍 1903/5786

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23 years
24 years

Pukerau
Mimihau

23 years
18 years

House of Mr. William Hay, Mimihau

03/4723

11 August 1903

Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

No	16
Date of Notice	11 August 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Holland	Isabella May
BDM Match (96%)	John Holland	Isabella Hay
	💍 1903/3236
BDM Match (64%)	Robert Holland	Isabella Lyske
	💍 1903/5786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Pukerau	Mimihau
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. William Hay, Mimihau
Folio	03/4723
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

8 September 1903

John Nicholson
Ethel Verona King

John Mickelson
Ethel Verona King
💍 1903/3237

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
Domestic Duties

23
20

Pukerau
Pukerau

23 years
18 years

House of Mr. George McKessar, Pukerau

03/4725

Notice given under Section 27, Marriage Act 1880.

8 September 1903; Certificate issued September 24, 1903

Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	8 September 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nicholson	Ethel Verona King
BDM Match (89%)	John Mickelson	Ethel Verona King
	💍 1903/3237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Pukerau	Pukerau
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. George McKessar, Pukerau
Folio	03/4725
Consent	Notice given under Section 27, Marriage Act 1880.
Date of Certificate	8 September 1903; Certificate issued September 24, 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian

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).