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 801

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar J. S. Pitt

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

9 March 1903

Ewen Patterson
Elizabeth Fairbairn

Ewen Patterson
Elizabeth Fairbairn
💍 1903/1863

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
School Teacher

35
22

Richmond Grove, Invercargill
North, Invercargill

5 days
2 months

Residence of Andrew Fairbairn, North, Invercargill

03/1352

9 March 1903

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	36
Date of Notice	9 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ewen Patterson	Elizabeth Fairbairn
	💍 1903/1863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	School Teacher
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, Invercargill	North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Fairbairn, North, Invercargill
Folio	03/1352
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

10 March 1903

John Reynolds
Barbara Mullins

John Reynolds
Barbara Mullins
💍 1903/1846

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
21

Tyne Street, Invercargill
Tyne Street, Invercargill

2 years
1 year

R. C. Presbytery, Eye Street, Invercargill

03/1358

10 March 1903

The Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	37
Date of Notice	10 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reynolds	Barbara Mullins
	💍 1903/1846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Tyne Street, Invercargill	Tyne Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	R. C. Presbytery, Eye Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/1358
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1903
Officiating Minister	The Very Rev. Dean Burke

12 March 1903

James Henry Powill
Lavina Lowry

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

33
36

Mataura, Invercargill
East, Invercargill

2 years
5 days

Residence of George Parry, East, Invercargill

03/1350

12 March 1903

Rev. J. A. Moeller

No	38
Date of Notice	12 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Powill	Lavina Lowry
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Mataura, Invercargill	East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of George Parry, East, Invercargill
Folio	03/1350
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Moeller

12 March 1903

Henry Addis Burgess
Jane Thomson

Henry Addie Burgess
Jean Thomson
💍 1903/1865

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
22

East, Invercargill
Bay Road, Invercargill

3 years
1 year

Presbyterian Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill

03/1354

12 March 1903

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	39
Date of Notice	12 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Addis Burgess	Jane Thomson
BDM Match (89%)	Henry Addie Burgess	Jean Thomson
	💍 1903/1865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	East, Invercargill	Bay Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/1354
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

12 March 1903

Cuthbert James Strachan
Elizabeth Strachan

Cuthbert James Whitaker
Elizabeth Strachan
💍 1903/1866

Bachelor
Spinster

Proof Reader
Tailoress

24
25

Leven Street, Invercargill
East, Invercargill

2 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs. Strachan, Esk Street, East, Invercargill

03/1355

12 March 1903

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	40
Date of Notice	12 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cuthbert James Strachan	Elizabeth Strachan
BDM Match (83%)	Cuthbert James Whitaker	Elizabeth Strachan
	💍 1903/1866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Proof Reader	Tailoress
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Leven Street, Invercargill	East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Strachan, Esk Street, East, Invercargill
Folio	03/1355
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

13 March 1903

John Ward
Christina Garden

John Ward
Christina Garden Cassels
💍 1903/1857

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Domestic

47
37

Avenal, Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

40 years
22 years

Residence of J. W. Garden, Richmond Grove, Invercargill

03/1368

13 March 1903

Rev. Samuel J. Trass

No	41
Date of Notice	13 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ward	Christina Garden
BDM Match (83%)	John Ward	Christina Garden Cassels
	💍 1903/1857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Domestic
Age	47	37
Dwelling Place	Avenal, Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	40 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. W. Garden, Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Folio	03/1368
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel J. Trass

13 March 1903

Charles de Reya
Law T. Hemple

Charles de Reya
Jane McKenzie
💍 1903/3825

Bachelor
Spinster

Mining Engineer
Domestic

33
27

Robt. Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

1 year
1 year

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

03/3141

13 March 1903

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	42
Date of Notice	13 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles de Reya	Law T. Hemple
BDM Match (62%)	Charles de Reya	Jane McKenzie
	💍 1903/3825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mining Engineer	Domestic
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Robt. Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	03/3141
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

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).