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 819

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar J. S. Peter

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

147

20 October 1903

John P. Smith
Janet McKenzie Smith

John McIntyre
Janet McKenzie Smith
💍 1903/6440

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic

35
30

Dee Street, Invercargill
Devon Street, Invercargill

10 days
6 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

03/6434

20 October 1903

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	147
Date of Notice	20 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John P. Smith	Janet McKenzie Smith
BDM Match (69%)	John McIntyre	Janet McKenzie Smith
	💍 1903/6440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Devon Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	03/6434
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

148

20 October 1903

William Dawson Cowie
Margaret Eliza Bertram Trenery

William Dawson Cowie
Margaret Clare Bertram McInerney
💍 1903/6278

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Domestic

26
19

Eye Street, Invercargill
Gala Street, Invercargill

3 days
7 days

Roman Catholic Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill

03/6463

James and Kate M. Keith, Guardians

20 October 1903

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	148
Date of Notice	20 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dawson Cowie	Margaret Eliza Bertram Trenery
BDM Match (86%)	William Dawson Cowie	Margaret Clare Bertram McInerney
	💍 1903/6278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Gala Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/6463
Consent	James and Kate M. Keith, Guardians
Date of Certificate	20 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

149

22 October 1903

John McCall
Mary Ellenor Morton

John McCall
Mary Ellenor Morton
💍 1903/6276

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
27

Seaward Downs, Invercargill
Seaward Downs, Invercargill

6 years
10 years

Residence of Thomas Ramsay Morton, Seaward Downs, Invercargill

03/6461

22 October 1903

Rev. James Aitken

No	149
Date of Notice	22 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCall	Mary Ellenor Morton
	💍 1903/6276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Seaward Downs, Invercargill	Seaward Downs, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Ramsay Morton, Seaward Downs, Invercargill
Folio	03/6461
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Aitken

150

28 October 1903

John Welsh
Isabella Turnbull

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

24
25

Conon Street, Invercargill
Gala Street, Invercargill

12 years
5 years

Residence of John Turnbull, Gala Street, Invercargill

03/6449

28 October 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	150
Date of Notice	28 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Welsh	Isabella Turnbull
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Conon Street, Invercargill	Gala Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Turnbull, Gala Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/6449
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

151

29 October 1903

Robert Kidd
Kate Alto Kimaira

Robert Kidd
Kate Otto Kinnaird
💍 1903/6271

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

28
25

Spey Street, Invercargill
Elle Road, Invercargill

7 years
15 years

Residence of Alexander Kimaira, Elle Road, North Invercargill

03/6448

29 October 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	151
Date of Notice	29 October 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Kidd	Kate Alto Kimaira
BDM Match (86%)	Robert Kidd	Kate Otto Kinnaird
	💍 1903/6271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Elle Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Kimaira, Elle Road, North Invercargill
Folio	03/6448
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

152

2 November 1903

William George Brass
Agnes Mary Seward

William George Brass
Agnes Mary Stewart
💍 1903/6450

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

24
24

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

24 years
24 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

03/6443

2 November 1903

Rev. Arch. Stocker

No	152
Date of Notice	2 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Brass	Agnes Mary Seward
BDM Match (94%)	William George Brass	Agnes Mary Stewart
	💍 1903/6450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/6443
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Stocker

153

3 November 1903

Robert Arthur Edward Meikle
Mary Emma Gelman

Robert Arthur Edwards
Mary Emma Gilman
💍 1903/6272

Widower
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

36
22

Beaumont, Invercargill
Tramway Road South, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

03/6457

3 November 1903

Rev. Comp. Ritchie

No	153
Date of Notice	3 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Arthur Edward Meikle	Mary Emma Gelman
BDM Match (84%)	Robert Arthur Edwards	Mary Emma Gilman
	💍 1903/6272
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Beaumont, Invercargill	Tramway Road South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/6457
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Comp. Ritchie

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).