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 338

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1903 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

628

2 December 1903

William Enge Hayward
Nellie Seabourn

William George Hayward
Nellie Seabourn
💍 1903/6334

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

32
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

15 years
21 years

St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street, Sydenham

03/6094

2 December 1903

Rev. R. Mansfield, Church of Christ

No	628
Date of Notice	2 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Enge Hayward	Nellie Seabourn
BDM Match (91%)	William George Hayward	Nellie Seabourn
	💍 1903/6334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	15 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street, Sydenham
Folio	03/6094
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mansfield, Church of Christ

629

2 December 1903

Walter John Murphy
Annie Elizabeth Patrick Duncan

Walter John Murphy
Annie Elizabeth Gabriel Dungan
💍 1903/6626

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Bookbinder

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

33 years
6 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

03/6636

2 December 1903

Rev. R. H. Thomas, Roman Catholic

No	629
Date of Notice	2 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Murphy	Annie Elizabeth Patrick Duncan
BDM Match (92%)	Walter John Murphy	Annie Elizabeth Gabriel Dungan
	💍 1903/6626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Bookbinder
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	33 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	03/6636
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Thomas, Roman Catholic

630

3 December 1903

Henry Allan Bull
Louisa Ethel Wallace

Henry Arthur Bull
Louisa Ethel Mallard
💍 1903/339

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

24
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

6 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church, Sydenham

03/6059

3 December 1903

Rev. R. H. Bull, Methodist

No	630
Date of Notice	3 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Allan Bull	Louisa Ethel Wallace
BDM Match (78%)	Henry Arthur Bull	Louisa Ethel Mallard
	💍 1903/339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Sydenham
Folio	03/6059
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Bull, Methodist

631

4 December 1903

William Howard Phipps
Annie Whitehead

William Howard Phipps
Annie Whitehead Turton
💍 1903/6181

Widower
Spinster

Butcher
Barmaid

34
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
32 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

03/6097

4 December 1903

Rev. R. A. Gooding, Anglican

No	631
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Howard Phipps	Annie Whitehead
BDM Match (84%)	William Howard Phipps	Annie Whitehead Turton
	💍 1903/6181
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Barmaid
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	03/6097
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Gooding, Anglican

632

4 December 1903

Joseph Herbert Fletcher
Lily Crockett

Joseph Herbert Fletcher
Lily Cockcroft
💍 1903/727

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

20
20

Linwood
Christchurch

20 years
20 years

St. John's Church, Balls Road, Linwood

03/6728

John Fletcher, father of groom; Sarah Crockett, mother of bride

4 December 1903

Rev. E. G. Low, Presbyterian

No	632
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Herbert Fletcher	Lily Crockett
BDM Match (82%)	Joseph Herbert Fletcher	Lily Cockcroft
	💍 1903/727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Balls Road, Linwood
Folio	03/6728
Consent	John Fletcher, father of groom; Sarah Crockett, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Low, Presbyterian

633

4 December 1903

William Wilson
Elizabeth Robinson

William Wilson
Elizabeth Robinson
💍 1903/6168

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
31

Belfast
Belfast

20 years
19 months

St. Mary's Church, Belfast

03/6030

4 December 1903

Rev. P. Wilson, Presbyterian

No	633
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilson	Elizabeth Robinson
	💍 1903/6168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	20 years	19 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Belfast
Folio	03/6030
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Wilson, Presbyterian

634

4 December 1903

Alfred Rich Smith
Eleanor Sackett

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Greengrocer

24
23

Woolston
Woolston

24 years
17 years

St. Luke's Church, Opawa

03/5974

4 December 1903

Rev. R. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	634
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Rich Smith	Eleanor Sackett
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Greengrocer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	24 years	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Opawa
Folio	03/5974
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Cocks, Anglican

635

4 December 1903

Harold Brickman
Agatha Land

Harold Brinkman
Ethel Agatha Land
💍 1903/6575

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

18
19

Sydenham
St. Albans

8 years
10 years

St. Paul's Church, Sydenham

03/6603

Henry Brickman, father of groom; Archibald Land, father of bride

4 December 1903

Rev. D. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	635
Date of Notice	4 December 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Brickman	Agatha Land
BDM Match (79%)	Harold Brinkman	Ethel Agatha Land
	💍 1903/6575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	18	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	St. Albans
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Sydenham
Folio	03/6603
Consent	Henry Brickman, father of groom; Archibald Land, father of bride
Date of Certificate	4 December 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Erwin, Presbyterian

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).