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 755

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar George Thomas Cross

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

24 March 1904

Carl Edward Bergstrom
Jane Eleanor Robinson

Carl Edward Borgstrom
Jane Eleanor Robinson
💍 1904/7052

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

28
25

Napier
Napier

8 years
20 years

St John's Cathedral, Napier

04/488

24 March 1904

Dean Hovell

No	33
Date of Notice	24 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Edward Bergstrom	Jane Eleanor Robinson
BDM Match (98%)	Carl Edward Borgstrom	Jane Eleanor Robinson
	💍 1904/7052
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St John's Cathedral, Napier
Folio	04/488
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell

25 March 1904

Fredrick William Cemcke
Ada Constance May Page

Frederick William Ouncke
Ada Constance May Page
💍 1904/3653

Bachelor
Spinster

Cooper
Domestic duties

19
19

Napier
Napier

19 years
19 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

04/484

Earnest Carl Cemcke, Father; Thomas Page, Father

25 March 1904

Registrar of Marriages

No	34
Date of Notice	25 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick William Cemcke	Ada Constance May Page
BDM Match (92%)	Frederick William Ouncke	Ada Constance May Page
	💍 1904/3653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cooper	Domestic duties
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	19 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	04/484
Consent	Earnest Carl Cemcke, Father; Thomas Page, Father
Date of Certificate	25 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

29 March 1904

John Pearce Smith
Mary Ann Honnor

John Pearce Smith
Mary Ann Honnor
💍 1904/1251

Widower
Divorcee

Hotel Keeper
Domestic duties

50
40

Port Ahuriri
Napier

9 years
9 years

Congregational Church, Napier

04/2224

29 March 1904

Rev. H. W. J. Miller

No	35
Date of Notice	29 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pearce Smith	Mary Ann Honnor
	💍 1904/1251
Condition	Widower	Divorcee
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Domestic duties
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Napier
Folio	04/2224
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller

29 March 1904

James Thomas Steele
Maude Louise Villers

James Thomas Steele
Maud Louise Villers
💍 1904/3659

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

34
29

Gisborne
Napier

3 days
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Napier

04/490

29 March 1904

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	36
Date of Notice	29 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Steele	Maude Louise Villers
BDM Match (98%)	James Thomas Steele	Maud Louise Villers
	💍 1904/3659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	04/490
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

29 March 1904

James Murphy
Margaret Carruth

James Murphy
Margaret Carruth
💍 1904/1249

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
General Servant

38
25

Napier
Napier

13 years
25 years

Congregational Manse, Napier

04/2222

29 March 1904

Rev. H. W. J. Miller

No	37
Date of Notice	29 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Murphy	Margaret Carruth
	💍 1904/1249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	General Servant
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	13 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Manse, Napier
Folio	04/2222
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller

30 March 1904

Robert Eric Graham, Jun.
Mary Elizabeth Cobb

Robert Grier Graham
Mary Elizabeth Cobb
💍 1904/3648

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic duties

26
25

Napier
Napier

3 days
12 years

Trinity Methodist Church, Napier

04/479

30 March 1904

Rev. E. Blamire

No	38
Date of Notice	30 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Eric Graham, Jun.	Mary Elizabeth Cobb
BDM Match (81%)	Robert Grier Graham	Mary Elizabeth Cobb
	💍 1904/3648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Methodist Church, Napier
Folio	04/479
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Blamire

31 March 1904

Walter Henry Tunstall
Daisy Elizabeth Bower

Walter Henry Dunstall
Daisy Elizabeth Bower
💍 1904/1250

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Carver
Cook

22
22

Napier
Napier

9 months
18 years

Residence of W. Bower, Lucknow Terrace, Napier

04/2223

31 March 1904

Rev. H. W. J. Miller

No	39
Date of Notice	31 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Tunstall	Daisy Elizabeth Bower
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Henry Dunstall	Daisy Elizabeth Bower
	💍 1904/1250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Carver	Cook
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Bower, Lucknow Terrace, Napier
Folio	04/2223
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller

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 1908. 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).