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 1060

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar William Russell

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

252

12 October 1903

Alexander Patriti Kenneth Maughan Calder
Caroline Ann Mackintosh

Alexander Patrick Kenneth McCaughan Calder
Caroline Ann MacKintosh
💍 1903/6491

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
22

Oneti Plains
Oneti Plains

3 days
22 years

The Presbyterian Church, Drummond

03/6514

12 October 1903

Rev. W. W. Brown, Presbyterian

No	252
Date of Notice	12 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Patriti Kenneth Maughan Calder	Caroline Ann Mackintosh
BDM Match (93%)	Alexander Patrick Kenneth McCaughan Calder	Caroline Ann MacKintosh
	💍 1903/6491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Oneti Plains	Oneti Plains
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Drummond
Folio	03/6514
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Brown, Presbyterian

253

5 November 1903

John Scott
Jessie Helena Sims

John Scott
Jessie Helena Sims
💍 1903/6689

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
23

Hokonui
Spring Hills

25 years
22 years

House of Mr. William Sims, Spring Hills

03/6558

5 November 1903

Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

No	253
Date of Notice	5 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Scott	Jessie Helena Sims
	💍 1903/6689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hokonui	Spring Hills
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. William Sims, Spring Hills
Folio	03/6558
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

254

18 December 1903

John McLean
Ethel Ann Margaret Sinclair

John McLean
Esther Ann Margaret Sinclair
💍 1903/6666

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
29

Fern Hills
Browns

20 years
6 months

The Presbyterian Manse, Winton

03/6559

18 December 1903

Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

No	254
Date of Notice	18 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McLean	Ethel Ann Margaret Sinclair
BDM Match (96%)	John McLean	Esther Ann Margaret Sinclair
	💍 1903/6666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Fern Hills	Browns
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Winton
Folio	03/6559
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

255

22 December 1903

Charles Henry Marshall
Eliza Knight

Charles Henry Marshall
Eliza Knight
💍 1903/6667

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman

29
24

Winton
Winton

5 years
24 years

House of Mr. Alexander Knight, Winton

03/6560

22 December 1903

Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

No	255
Date of Notice	22 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Marshall	Eliza Knight
	💍 1903/6667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Alexander Knight, Winton
Folio	03/6560
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

256

28 December 1903

Patrick Alphonso Bourke
Mary Kerr

Patrick Alphonsus Burke
Mary Kerr
💍 1903/6688

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
27

Springvale, Winton
Springvale, Winton

3 months
27 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Winton

03/6557

28 December 1903

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	256
Date of Notice	28 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Alphonso Bourke	Mary Kerr
BDM Match (94%)	Patrick Alphonsus Burke	Mary Kerr
	💍 1903/6688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Springvale, Winton	Springvale, Winton
Length of Residence	3 months	27 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	03/6557
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).