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 732

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar J. Gilbert Burness Burns

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

16 November 1903

Arthur William Christie
Eliza Liston Brown

Arthur William Christie
Eliza Liston Brown
💍 1903/6532

Bachelor
Spinster

Stageman

26
23

Saddle Hill, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

26 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel

03/6395

16 November 1903

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

No	26
Date of Notice	16 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Christie	Eliza Liston Brown
	💍 1903/6532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stageman
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Saddle Hill, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6395
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

28 November 1903

Edward McGettigan
Margaret O'Brien

Edward McGettigan
Margaret O'Brien
💍 1903/6267

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

39
34

Mosgiel Junction, Otago
Mosgiel Junction, Otago

3 days
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Mosgiel

03/6403

28 November 1903

Rev. Father B. O'Neill, Mosgiel

No	27
Date of Notice	28 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward McGettigan	Margaret O'Brien
	💍 1903/6267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel Junction, Otago	Mosgiel Junction, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6403
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father B. O'Neill, Mosgiel

30 November 1903

Thomas Stuart
Ellen Millan

Thomas Stuart
Ellen William
💍 1903/345

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer

27
24

Wingatui, Otago
Janefield, Otago

7 years
4 years

The Manse, East Taieri

03/6702

30 November 1903

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	28
Date of Notice	30 November 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Stuart	Ellen Millan
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Stuart	Ellen William
	💍 1903/345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Wingatui, Otago	Janefield, Otago
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, East Taieri
Folio	03/6702
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

2 December 1903

Alexander Cameron
Fanny Wright

Alexander Cameron
Fanny Wright
💍 1903/6533

Widower
Spinster

Factory Operator

50
25

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

43 years
6 years

In the house of Alexander Cameron, Mosgiel

03/6396

2 December 1903

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

No	29
Date of Notice	2 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cameron	Fanny Wright
	💍 1903/6533
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Factory Operator
Age	50	25
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	43 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Alexander Cameron, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6396
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

2 December 1903

John Williamson
Lizzie Sinclair

John Williamson
Lizzie Sinclair
💍 1903/6534

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
23

North Taieri, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

29 years
23 years

In the house of William O. Sinclair, Mosgiel

03/6397

2 December 1903

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

No	30
Date of Notice	2 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Williamson	Lizzie Sinclair
	💍 1903/6534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William O. Sinclair, Mosgiel
Folio	03/6397
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Mosgiel

4 December 1903

William Lee
Ellen Stevens

William Lee
Ellen Stevens
💍 1903/346

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
22

East Taieri, Otago
East Taieri, Otago

3 days
22 years

The Manse, East Taieri

03/6703

4 December 1903

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	31
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lee	Ellen Stevens
	💍 1903/346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	East Taieri, Otago	East Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, East Taieri
Folio	03/6703
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

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).