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 714

District of Waimate Plains Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Thomas Edward Clough

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

9 July 1904

Daniel Evans Scott
Rebecca Williams

Daniel Evans Scott
Rebecca Williams
💍 1904/342

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
43

Manaia
Manaia

3 years
7 years

The residence of Mr J Patterson, Manaia

04/5053

9 July 1904

Rev Charles Porter

No	9
Date of Notice	9 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Evans Scott	Rebecca Williams
	💍 1904/342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	43
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr J Patterson, Manaia
Folio	04/5053
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Charles Porter

13 July 1904

George Blandford Hill
Lena Kate Cleland

George Blandford Hill
Lena Kate Cleland
💍 1904/4793

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
23

Kaponga
Kaponga

4 years
3 years

Church of England Kaponga

04/3986

13 July 1904

Rev Henry Thos Rawnsley

No	10
Date of Notice	13 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Blandford Hill	Lena Kate Cleland
	💍 1904/4793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Kaponga	Kaponga
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Kaponga
Folio	04/3986
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Henry Thos Rawnsley

14 July 1904

Edward George Ross
Violet Greenwood

Edward George Ross
Violet Greenwood
💍 1904/4795

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
22

Auroa
Auroa

1 year
2 years

The Registrars Office Manaia

04/3988

14 July 1904

Thomas Edward Clough, Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	14 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Ross	Violet Greenwood
	💍 1904/4795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Auroa	Auroa
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	The Registrars Office Manaia
Folio	04/3988
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Thomas Edward Clough, Registrar

22 July 1904

David Penny
Helena Beatrice Davies

David Penny
Helena Beatrice Davies
💍 1904/7087

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
21

Auroa
Auroa

2 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church Manaia

04/3992

22 July 1904

Rev Wm Hill Philip

No	12
Date of Notice	22 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Penny	Helena Beatrice Davies
	💍 1904/7087
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Auroa	Auroa
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Manaia
Folio	04/3992
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Hill Philip

25 July 1904

John Aitken
Grace Gibson

John Aitken
Grace Gibson
💍 1904/4777

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Farming

51
45

Manaia
Manaia

1 month
13 years

The residence of Mrs Margaret Gibson, Manaia

04/3991

25 July 1904

Rev Wm Hill Philip

No	13
Date of Notice	25 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Aitken	Grace Gibson
	💍 1904/4777
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Farming
Age	51	45
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	1 month	13 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs Margaret Gibson, Manaia
Folio	04/3991
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Hill Philip

4 August 1904

Alexander Hunger
Agatha Meuli

Alexander Hunger
Agatha Meuli
💍 1904/7088

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
27

Eltham, at present Manaia
Manaia

3 days
3 years

The residence of Mr Jacob, at present Manaia

04/3993

4 August 1904

Rev Wm Hill Philip

No	14
Date of Notice	4 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hunger	Agatha Meuli
	💍 1904/7088
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Eltham, at present Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr Jacob, at present Manaia
Folio	04/3993
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Hill Philip

4 August 1904

Francis McPhillips
Mary O'Dea

Francis McPhillips
Mary O'Dea
💍 1904/4797

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
22

Auroa
Auroa

8 years
3 years

The residence of Mr James O'Dea, Auroa

04/3990

4 August 1904

Rev Patrick J Power

No	15
Date of Notice	4 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis McPhillips	Mary O'Dea
	💍 1904/4797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Auroa	Auroa
Length of Residence	8 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr James O'Dea, Auroa
Folio	04/3990
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Patrick J Power

22 August 1904

George Henry Blackwell
Lily Beatrice Gane

George Henry Blackwell
Lily Beatrice Gane
💍 1904/2889

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
22

Whakamara
Suaha

4 years
3 years

Church of England Hawera, Manaia

04/3940

22 August 1904

Rev Henry Thos Rawnsley

No	16
Date of Notice	22 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Blackwell	Lily Beatrice Gane
	💍 1904/2889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Whakamara	Suaha
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Hawera, Manaia
Folio	04/3940
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Henry Thos Rawnsley

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).