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 620

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

6 February 1903

John McCulloh
Margaret Brown Davie

John McCulloch
Margaret Brown Davie
💍 1903/1039

Bachelor
Widow

Hotel keeper
Dressmaker

42 years
34 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

9 months
3 years

In Knox Church, Dunedin

03/1231

6 February 1903

Wm Hewitson

No	35
Date of Notice	6 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCulloh	Margaret Brown Davie
BDM Match (96%)	John McCulloch	Margaret Brown Davie
	💍 1903/1039
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Hotel keeper	Dressmaker
Age	42 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	03/1231
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm Hewitson

6 February 1903

Griffith Jones Owens
Isabella Christina Donald

Griffith Jones Owens
Isabella Christina Ronald
💍 1903/1787

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

28 years
24 years

Dunedin
Roslyn

3 days
5 years

In the Residence of the Rev. Wm. Scorgie, Mornington

03/1252

6 February 1903

Wm. Scorgie

No	36
Date of Notice	6 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Griffith Jones Owens	Isabella Christina Donald
BDM Match (98%)	Griffith Jones Owens	Isabella Christina Ronald
	💍 1903/1787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	28 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of the Rev. Wm. Scorgie, Mornington
Folio	03/1252
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Wm. Scorgie

9 February 1903

James Clark
Jessie Jones

James Clark
Jessie Jones
💍 1903/1792

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Machinist

36 years
29 years

Dunedin
Roslyn

28 years
29 years

In the Presbyterian Church, City Road, Roslyn

03/1257

9 February 1903

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	37
Date of Notice	9 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Clark	Jessie Jones
	💍 1903/1792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Machinist
Age	36 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	28 years	29 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, City Road, Roslyn
Folio	03/1257
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1903
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

11 February 1903

John Joseph O'Brien
Maria Lilisia Thomas

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer

25 years
31 years

St. Kilda
St. Kilda

3 days
7 years

In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

03/1275

11 February 1903

Jas. Coffey

No	38
Date of Notice	11 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph O'Brien	Maria Lilisia Thomas
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer
Age	25 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	03/1275
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Jas. Coffey

11 February 1903

John Benjamin Palmer
Mary Souter

John Benjamin Palmer
Mary Souter
💍 1903/1026

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Milliner

31 years
28 years

Port Chalmers
Dunedin

7 months
5 years

In St. Andrew's Church, Walker Street, Dunedin

03/1241

11 February 1903

R. Waddell

No	39
Date of Notice	11 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Benjamin Palmer	Mary Souter
	💍 1903/1026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Milliner
Age	31 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Andrew's Church, Walker Street, Dunedin
Folio	03/1241
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1903
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

11 February 1903

William Smith
Margaret Walsh

William Sanith
Margaret Walsh
💍 1903/2022

Widower
Widow

Labourer

45 years
44 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

4 years
12 years

In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

03/1276

11 February 1903

Jas Coffey

No	40
Date of Notice	11 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Margaret Walsh
BDM Match (93%)	William Sanith	Margaret Walsh
	💍 1903/2022
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	45 years	44 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	03/1276
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Jas Coffey

11 February 1903

George Barclay
Laura Edith Graham

George Barclay
Laura Edith Graham
💍 1903/1018

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

37 years
33 years

Dunedin
Mornington

15 years
2 weeks

In the House of Mr. George Charles Graham, Mornington

03/1221

11 February 1903

J. B. Small

No	41
Date of Notice	11 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Barclay	Laura Edith Graham
	💍 1903/1018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	37 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	15 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. George Charles Graham, Mornington
Folio	03/1221
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1903
Officiating Minister	J. B. Small

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).