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 613

District of Whangarei Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar Abraham Absolum

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

4 January 1904

Maring Mabarly Tothill
Ellen Ollson

Waring Maherly Tothill
Ellen Olsen
💍 1904/3595

Bachelor
Widow

Carter
Domestic Duties

40
40

Whangarei
Whangarei

24 years
2 months

Dwelling House of Mr. Charles Tothill, Whangarei

04/363

4 January 1904

Rev. J. W. Griffin

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maring Mabarly Tothill	Ellen Ollson
BDM Match (85%)	Waring Maherly Tothill	Ellen Olsen
	💍 1904/3595
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	40	40
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	24 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. Charles Tothill, Whangarei
Folio	04/363
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Griffin

6 January 1904

John Prolongean
Alice Jane Jenkin

John Prolongeau
Alice Jane Jenkins
💍 1904/3613

Bachelor
Spinster

High Watchman
Domestic Duties

28
22

Whangarei
Whangarei

1 year
3 weeks

Registrar's office, Whangarei

04/366

6 January 1904

Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	6 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Prolongean	Alice Jane Jenkin
BDM Match (94%)	John Prolongeau	Alice Jane Jenkins
	💍 1904/3613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	High Watchman	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	1 year	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's office, Whangarei
Folio	04/366
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar

16 January 1904

Horace Goodhew
Elizabeth Ann Cotterill

Horace Goodhew
Elizabeth Ann Cotterill
💍 1904/3615

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
23

Taheke
Hikurangi

12 months
9 years

Dwelling House of Mr. D. Cotterill, Hikurangi

04/368

16 January 1904

Rev. J. A. Hawkes

No	3
Date of Notice	16 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Goodhew	Elizabeth Ann Cotterill
	💍 1904/3615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Taheke	Hikurangi
Length of Residence	12 months	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. D. Cotterill, Hikurangi
Folio	04/368
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Hawkes

22 January 1904

Hauraki Riha
Iou Matini

Hauraki Niha
Pou Matini
💍 1904/3614

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

37
28

Whangarei
Whangarei

2 weeks
2 weeks

Registrar's office, Whangarei

04/367

22 January 1904

Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	22 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hauraki Riha	Iou Matini
BDM Match (91%)	Hauraki Niha	Pou Matini
	💍 1904/3614
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's office, Whangarei
Folio	04/367
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar

27 January 1904

Rowland Hill Harrison
Margaret Ethel McLeod

Rowland Hill Harrison
Margaret Ethel McLeod
💍 1904/2481

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

27
24

Whangarei
Whangarei

27 years
24 years

Dwelling House of Mr. A. McLeod, Whangarei

04/3612

27 January 1904

Wm. C. Matthew

No	5
Date of Notice	27 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rowland Hill Harrison	Margaret Ethel McLeod
	💍 1904/2481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. A. McLeod, Whangarei
Folio	04/3612
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Wm. C. Matthew

6 February 1904

Archibald Clarke
Ethel Marion Munro

Archibald Clarke
Ethel Marion Munro
💍 1904/3606

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Domestic Duties

28
19

Whangarei
Whangarei

5 years
4 years

Dwelling House of Mr. Charles Munro, Mahupouri

04/364

Charles Augustus Munro, Father

6 February 1904

Rev. J. W. Griffin

No	6
Date of Notice	6 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Clarke	Ethel Marion Munro
	💍 1904/3606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Domestic Duties
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. Charles Munro, Mahupouri
Folio	04/364
Consent	Charles Augustus Munro, Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Griffin

18 February 1904

Jeremiah O'Meara
Agnes Bone

Jeremiah O'Meara
Agnes Bone
💍 1904/3612

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

56
48

Ruatangata West
Ruatangata West

2 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Whangarei

04/365

18 February 1904

Rev. J. W. Davies

No	7
Date of Notice	18 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeremiah O'Meara	Agnes Bone
	💍 1904/3612
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	56	48
Dwelling Place	Ruatangata West	Ruatangata West
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Whangarei
Folio	04/365
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Davies

9 March 1904

Arthur William Newman Cottle

Bachelor

Farmer

Whangarei

22 years

Church of England, Whangarei

Not Solemnised

Hannah Groves, Mother

9 March 1904

Rev. L. L. Cubitt

No	8
Date of Notice	9 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Newman Cottle
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Farmer
Age	43
Dwelling Place	Whangarei
Length of Residence	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whangarei
Folio	Not Solemnised
Consent	Hannah Groves, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. L. Cubitt

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).