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 799

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar J. G. 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

18 February 1903

William Scully
Margaret Leonard

William Scully
Margaret Leonard
💍 1903/1845

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
22

Woodlands, Invercargill
Rakahouka, Invercargill

4 years
4 years

Non Catholic Church, Rakahouka, Invercargill

03/1319

18 February 1903

Rev. J. Lynch

No	12
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scully	Margaret Leonard
	💍 1903/1845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Woodlands, Invercargill	Rakahouka, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Non Catholic Church, Rakahouka, Invercargill
Folio	03/1319
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lynch

20 February 1903

Andrew Reid
Edith Harris

Andrew Reid
Edith Harris
💍 1903/1841

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
22

Dee Street, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

03/1328

20 February 1903

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	21
Date of Notice	20 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Reid	Edith Harris
	💍 1903/1841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	03/1328
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

20 February 1903

Henry Arthur Giller
Eliza Scott Leckie

Harry Arthur Giller
Eliza Scott Leckie
💍 1903/1827

Widower
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

51
43

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Yarrow Street, Invercargill

40 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. Leckie, Yarrow Street, Invercargill

03/1338

20 February 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	24
Date of Notice	20 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Arthur Giller	Eliza Scott Leckie
BDM Match (95%)	Harry Arthur Giller	Eliza Scott Leckie
	💍 1903/1827
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	51	43
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	40 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Leckie, Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/1338
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

21 February 1903

George Robb
Mary Kelly

George Robb
Mary Kelly
💍 1903/1853

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

28
19

Liddel Street, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

15 years
19 years

Residence of J. A. Pyper, Elle Road, Invercargill

03/1365

John Kelly, Father

21 February 1903

Reg. J. A. Pyper

No	25
Date of Notice	21 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robb	Mary Kelly
	💍 1903/1853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. A. Pyper, Elle Road, Invercargill
Folio	03/1365
Consent	John Kelly, Father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Reg. J. A. Pyper

25 February 1903

James George Herdman
Winifred Mary Rogan

James George Herdman
Winifred Mary Royds
💍 1903/1828

Bachelor
Spinster

Secretary, Dairy Supply Boy
Domestic

32
24

Tay Street, Invercargill
Forth Street, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

03/1339

23 February 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	26
Date of Notice	25 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James George Herdman	Winifred Mary Rogan
BDM Match (92%)	James George Herdman	Winifred Mary Royds
	💍 1903/1828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Secretary, Dairy Supply Boy	Domestic
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Forth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/1339
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

25 February 1903

John Henry Innes Colquhoun
Agnes Isabella Handscomb

John Henry McClatchy
Agnes Isable Handscomb
💍 1903/1830

Bachelor
Spinster

Hardware
Domestic

22
19

Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Yarrow Street, Invercargill

2 years
19 years

Residence of Henry Handscomb, Yarrow Street, Invercargill

03/1340

Henry Handscomb, Father

23 February 1903

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	27
Date of Notice	25 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Innes Colquhoun	Agnes Isabella Handscomb
BDM Match (69%)	John Henry McClatchy	Agnes Isable Handscomb
	💍 1903/1830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hardware	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, Invercargill	Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Handscomb, Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Folio	03/1340
Consent	Henry Handscomb, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

550

25 February 1903

Peter O'Donnell
Catherine McDonald

Peter McDonnell
Catherine McDonald
💍 1903/1842

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

44
32

Bridge Bush, Invercargill
Clyde Street, Invercargill

5 years
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

03/1329

23 February 1903

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	550
Date of Notice	25 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter O'Donnell	Catherine McDonald
BDM Match (93%)	Peter McDonnell	Catherine McDonald
	💍 1903/1842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	44	32
Dwelling Place	Bridge Bush, Invercargill	Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	03/1329
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 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).