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 622

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1903

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

17 February 1903

Ernest John Halford
Anne Molleison Smith

Ernest John Halford
Ann Mollison Smith
💍 1903/1027

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer

28 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
2 years

In the house of Isabella Smith, 10 Canongate Street, Dunedin

03/1942

17 February 1903

R. Haddell

No	49
Date of Notice	17 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Halford	Anne Molleison Smith
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest John Halford	Ann Mollison Smith
	💍 1903/1027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	28 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Isabella Smith, 10 Canongate Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1942
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1903
Officiating Minister	R. Haddell

18 February 1903

Donald McDonald
Charlotte Mary Ann Gavin

Donald McDonald
Charlotte Mary Ann Gavin
💍 1903/1032

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

35 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
8 days

In the First Church, Dunedin

03/1946

18 February 1903

Jas. Gibb

No	50
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McDonald	Charlotte Mary Ann Gavin
	💍 1903/1032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	35 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	03/1946
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Jas. Gibb

18 February 1903

Arthur Purches
Mary Rouse

Arthur Purches
Mary Rouse
💍 1903/2025

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Tailoress

32 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
5 years

In the Trinity Wesleyan Church, Stuart Street, Dunedin

03/1279

18 February 1903

W. A. Sinclair

No	51
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Purches	Mary Rouse
	💍 1903/2025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Tailoress
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Trinity Wesleyan Church, Stuart Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1279
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

18 February 1903

Archibald Hamilton Guthrie
Henrietta Julia Isabell James

Archibald Hamilton Guthrie
Henrietta Julia Isabell James
💍 1903/2019

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Saleswoman

25 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
10 years

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

03/1295

18 February 1903

Wm. Saunders

No	52
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Hamilton Guthrie	Henrietta Julia Isabell James
	💍 1903/2019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Saleswoman
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	03/1295
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

18 February 1903

John Bethune
Fanny May Beal

John Bethune
Fanny May Beal
💍 1903/1781

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

35 years
22 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

30 years
12 years

In the house of Annie Heddle Bethune, 331 Great King Street, Dunedin

03/1266

18 February 1903

D. Borrie

No	53
Date of Notice	18 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bethune	Fanny May Beal
	💍 1903/1781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	35 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	30 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Annie Heddle Bethune, 331 Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1266
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1903
Officiating Minister	D. Borrie

19 February 1903

John Lindsay
Ellen Jane Galbraith

John Lindsay
Ellen Jane Galbraith
💍 1903/1006

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

65 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

03/1195

19 February 1903

H. Maxwell Roy

No	54
Date of Notice	19 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lindsay	Ellen Jane Galbraith
	💍 1903/1006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	65 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	03/1195
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1903
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell Roy

20 February 1903

Thomas Moore George
Mabel McCulloch

Thomas Moore George
Mabel McCulloch
💍 1903/1094

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

23 years
15 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin

03/1910

Agnes McCulloch, Mother

20 February 1903

C. G. Robinson

No	55
Date of Notice	20 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Moore George	Mabel McCulloch
	💍 1903/1094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	23 years	15 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	03/1910
Consent	Agnes McCulloch, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 February 1903
Officiating Minister	C. G. Robinson

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).