Intentions to Marry, 1904 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840425, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 13 2025.

1904 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 108

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Edmund Humphrey Lyons

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

500

1 July 1904

Walter Francis White
Sarah Bowman

Walter Francis White
Sarah Bowmar
💍 1904/5076

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Master

23
29

Auckland
Parnell

2 years
2 weeks

St Mary's Cathedral

04/4341

1 July 1904

Rev M. Lutton, Church of England

No	500
Date of Notice	1 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Francis White	Sarah Bowman
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Francis White	Sarah Bowmar
	💍 1904/5076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Master
Age	23	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	2 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St Mary's Cathedral
Folio	04/4341
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev M. Lutton, Church of England

501

2 July 1904

Edwin Richard William Hayter
Adelaide Mary Beaumont

Edwin Richard William Hayter
Adelaide Mary Beaumont
💍 1904/2667

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot maker

52
38

Auckland
Beresford St

3 years
3 years

House of Rev J. Wilkins

04/3814

2 July 1904

Rev J. Wilkins, Congregational

No	501
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Richard William Hayter	Adelaide Mary Beaumont
	💍 1904/2667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot maker
Age	52	38
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Beresford St
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev J. Wilkins
Folio	04/3814
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Wilkins, Congregational

502

2 July 1904

Alfred Jule Watson
Ellen Burton

Alfred Jul Watson
Ellen Burton
💍 1904/5627

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
27

Auckland
Auckland

22 years
27 years

St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

04/5200

2 July 1904

Rev J. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

No	502
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Jule Watson	Ellen Burton
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Jul Watson	Ellen Burton
	💍 1904/5627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	22 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	04/5200
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. F. Patterson, Roman Catholic

503

2 July 1904

Henry Clare Haywood
Mary Jane Anderson

Henry Clare Haywood
Mary Jane Anderson
💍 1904/2541

Widower
Spinster

Engineer

48
42

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
9 years

Registrars Office, Auckland

04/3681

2 July 1904

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	503
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Clare Haywood	Mary Jane Anderson
	💍 1904/2541
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	48	42
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	04/3681
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

504

2 July 1904

Frank Pithie
Christina Jane Bowers

Frank Pithie
Christina Bowes
💍 1904/4782

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

25
26

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
26 years

St Paul's Church, Auckland

04/3999

2 July 1904

Rev C. Su. Nelson, Church of England

No	504
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Pithie	Christina Jane Bowers
BDM Match (86%)	Frank Pithie	Christina Bowes
	💍 1904/4782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	04/3999
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Su. Nelson, Church of England

505

2 July 1904

William George Stevens
Lilian Emma Spinks Parker

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

27
26

Auckland
Devonport

7 years
26 years

House of Father of Bride, Devonport

not solemnized

2 July 1904

Rev S. B. Monro, Presbyterian

No	505
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Stevens	Lilian Emma Spinks Parker
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Devonport
Length of Residence	7 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Devonport
Folio	not solemnized
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev S. B. Monro, Presbyterian

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).