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 252

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

8 January 1903

Henry Meredith Garner
Lizzie Fuller

Henry Meredith Garner
Lizzie Fuller
💍 1903/1944

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
25 years

Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace Christchurch

03/1457

7 January 1903

Rev. W. Dawson, Methodist

No	8
Date of Notice	8 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Meredith Garner	Lizzie Fuller
	💍 1903/1944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace Christchurch
Folio	03/1457
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Dawson, Methodist

9 January 1903

James Aloysius Holland
Ethel Mary Steggall

James Aloysius Holland
Ethel Mary Steggall
💍 1903/966

Bachelor
Spinster

Asphalter
Dressmaker

23
22

Christchurch
Linwood

28 years
22 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street

03/1045

7 January 1903

Rev. C. E. Gallais, Romanist

No	9
Date of Notice	9 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Aloysius Holland	Ethel Mary Steggall
	💍 1903/966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Asphalter	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	28 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street
Folio	03/1045
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Gallais, Romanist

10 January 1903

Robert Criglington
Jemima Taylor

Robert Criglington
Jemima Taylor
💍 1903/1945

Bachelor
Widow

Commission Agent

32
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
1 year

House of Rev. C. E. Ward, Cambridge Terrace

03/1458

7 January 1903

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	10
Date of Notice	10 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Criglington	Jemima Taylor
	💍 1903/1945
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	32	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. E. Ward, Cambridge Terrace
Folio	03/1458
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

11 January 1903

William Whitney Evans
Annie Maria Duggan

William Whitney Evans
Annie Maria Duggan
💍 1903/1724

Bachelor
Spinster

Leveler
Teacher

32
29

Christchurch
Woolston

3 years
10 years

House of Mr G. Duggan, Ferry Road, Woolston

03/1079

7 January 1903

Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregationalist

No	11
Date of Notice	11 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Whitney Evans	Annie Maria Duggan
	💍 1903/1724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Leveler	Teacher
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. Duggan, Ferry Road, Woolston
Folio	03/1079
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregationalist

12 January 1903

Richard Wareing
Emma George

Richard Waring
Emma George
💍 1903/919

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

St. John's, Chch

03/994

7 January 1903

Rev. R. A. Woodthorpe, Anglican

No	12
Date of Notice	12 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Wareing	Emma George
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Waring	Emma George
	💍 1903/919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. John's, Chch
Folio	03/994
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Woodthorpe, Anglican

13 January 1903

John Thomson Cobb Scott
Florence Annette Evans

John Thomson Cobb Stott
Florence Annette Evans
💍 1903/1707

Widower
Spinster

Confectioner

47
27

Linwood
Linwood

3 years
27 years

St. Paul's, Chch

03/1013

8 January 1903

Rev. S. T. Tinsley, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomson Cobb Scott	Florence Annette Evans
BDM Match (98%)	John Thomson Cobb Stott	Florence Annette Evans
	💍 1903/1707
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	47	27
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Chch
Folio	03/1013
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. T. Tinsley, Presbyterian

14 January 1903

Edward Martin Turner
decree absolut Jan 7 1903
Rosina Madgelene Hoyt

Edward Martin Turner
Rosina Madgelene Hoft
💍 1903/1666

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer

28
23

Christchurch
Addington

6 years
23 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

03/917

8 January 1903

Registrar Marriages, Christchurch

No	14
Date of Notice	14 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Martin Turner decree absolut Jan 7 1903	Rosina Madgelene Hoyt
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Martin Turner	Rosina Madgelene Hoft
	💍 1903/1666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	03/917
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, Christchurch

15 January 1903

John Herman Sorensen
Ellen Elizabeth Mander

John Herman Sorensen
Ellen Elizabeth Mander
💍 1903/1718

Bachelor
Spinster

Gold Miner

30
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

Trinity Church, Avonside

03/1004

Andrew Mander, father

10 January 1903

Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

No	15
Date of Notice	15 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Herman Sorensen	Ellen Elizabeth Mander
	💍 1903/1718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gold Miner
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	03/1004
Consent	Andrew Mander, father
Date of Certificate	10 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).