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 959

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar Alexander SecR

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

20 October 1903

Charles Hallett Fraser
Laura Mabel Heller

Charles Hackett Fraser
Laura Mabel Heller
💍 1903/6542

Bachelor
Spinster

Freeman
Domestic Duties

27
20

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

At the Catholic Church, Port Chalmers

03/6524

Laura Heller, mother of bride

13 October 1903

Rev. Michael Howard, Roman Catholic Clergyman

No	20
Date of Notice	20 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hallett Fraser	Laura Mabel Heller
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Hackett Fraser	Laura Mabel Heller
	💍 1903/6542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freeman	Domestic Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Catholic Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6524
Consent	Laura Heller, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	13 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Michael Howard, Roman Catholic Clergyman

21 November 1903

John Walker
Katherine Fletcher

John Walker
Katherine Fletcher
💍 1903/6553

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

30
28

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

At the house of Mr. Donald Fletcher, Shipwright, Meridian Street, Port Chalmers

03/6525

17 November 1903

Reverend Edward Taylor, Congregational Clergyman

No	21
Date of Notice	21 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker	Katherine Fletcher
	💍 1903/6553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Donald Fletcher, Shipwright, Meridian Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6525
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Reverend Edward Taylor, Congregational Clergyman

7 December 1903

Joseph Edward Erridge
Emma Edith Madigan

Joseph Edward Erridge
Emma Edith Madigan
💍 1903/6562

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic

27
26

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

15 years
26 years

At the House of Mr. Edward Madigan, Householder, Leithly Terrace, Port Chalmers

03/6528

7 December 1903

Reverend Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian Clergyman

No	22
Date of Notice	7 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edward Erridge	Emma Edith Madigan
	💍 1903/6562
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Deborah Bay, near Port Chalmers	Carey's Bay, near Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	15 years	26 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. Edward Madigan, Householder, Leithly Terrace, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6528
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Reverend Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian Clergyman

18 December 1903

George Herbert Mobberley
Mary Louisa Riddle

George Herbert Mobberley
Mary Lousia Liddle
💍 1903/6565

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Domestic

26
25

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

4 1/2 years
7 days

At the House of Mr. John Brecon, Boilermaker, Grey Street, Port Chalmers

03/6531

16 December 1903

Reverend Frank Nichol, Congregational Clergyman

No	23
Date of Notice	18 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert Mobberley	Mary Louisa Riddle
BDM Match (92%)	George Herbert Mobberley	Mary Lousia Liddle
	💍 1903/6565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	7 days
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. John Brecon, Boilermaker, Grey Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6531
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Reverend Frank Nichol, Congregational Clergyman

19 December 1903

Alexander Macdonald
Agnes Ormond

Alexander Macdonald
Agnes Omond
💍 1903/6563

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
25

Port Chalmers
Hamilton Bay, near Port Chalmers

4 years
25 years

At the House of Mr. Thomas Ormond, Hamilton Bay, near Port Chalmers

03/6529

19 December 1903

Reverend Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian Clergyman

No	24
Date of Notice	19 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Macdonald	Agnes Ormond
BDM Match (96%)	Alexander Macdonald	Agnes Omond
	💍 1903/6563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Hamilton Bay, near Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 years	25 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. Thomas Ormond, Hamilton Bay, near Port Chalmers
Folio	03/6529
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Reverend Edward Cowper Tennent, Presbyterian Clergyman

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).