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 852

District of Ashhurst Quarter ending 30 June 1904 Registrar J. Howard Vincent

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

5 April 1904

Thomas Searle
Annie Evelyn Roberts

Thomas Searle
Annie Evelyn Roberts
💍 1904/1263

Thomas Nelson
Ann Williamson Roberts
💍 1904/5450

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
24

Deleware Romako
Awahou

6 Years
12 Years

residence of John Roberts at Awahou

04/2268

5 April 1904

Rev. W. Newbold

No	3
Date of Notice	5 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Searle	Annie Evelyn Roberts
	💍 1904/1263
BDM Match (60%)	Thomas Nelson	Ann Williamson Roberts
	💍 1904/5450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Deleware Romako	Awahou
Length of Residence	6 Years	12 Years
Marriage Place	residence of John Roberts at Awahou
Folio	04/2268
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Newbold

6 April 1904

Francis Henry Blundell
Frances Maria Beatson

Francis Henry Blundell
Frances Maria Beatson
💍 1904/1802

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Raumai
Raumai

5 Days
5 Years

Church of England at Ashhurst

04/2861

6 April 1904

Rev. C. C. Harper

No	4
Date of Notice	6 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Blundell	Frances Maria Beatson
	💍 1904/1802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Raumai	Raumai
Length of Residence	5 Days	5 Years
Marriage Place	Church of England at Ashhurst
Folio	04/2861
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper

7 April 1904

William Frederick Ross
Mabel Maud Lucas

William Frederick Ross
Mabele Maud Lucas
💍 1904/1273

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
22

Pohangina
Pohangina

8 Years
10 Years

residence of Frances Ann Lucas at Pohangina

04/2270

7 April 1904

Rev. C. Murray

No	5
Date of Notice	7 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Ross	Mabel Maud Lucas
BDM Match (97%)	William Frederick Ross	Mabele Maud Lucas
	💍 1904/1273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Pohangina	Pohangina
Length of Residence	8 Years	10 Years
Marriage Place	residence of Frances Ann Lucas at Pohangina
Folio	04/2270
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

20 April 1904

Ambrose Davey
Elizabeth Fanny Miller

Ambrose Davey
Elizabeth Fanny Miller
💍 1904/7143

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

53
49

Ashhurst
Ashhurst

16 Years
4 Days

Registrars Office Ashhurst

04/2264

20 April 1904

J. Howard Vincent

No	6
Date of Notice	20 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ambrose Davey	Elizabeth Fanny Miller
	💍 1904/7143
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	53	49
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	16 Years	4 Days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Ashhurst
Folio	04/2264
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1904
Officiating Minister	J. Howard Vincent

11 May 1904

Harold Wright
Gertrude Florence Preist

Harold Wright
Gertrude Florence Print
💍 1904/1264

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
26

Bunnythorpe
Bunnythorpe

4 Days
15 Years

Wesleyan Church Bunnythorpe

04/2269

11 May 1904

Rev. E. Richards

No	7
Date of Notice	11 May 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Wright	Gertrude Florence Preist
BDM Match (96%)	Harold Wright	Gertrude Florence Print
	💍 1904/1264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Bunnythorpe
Length of Residence	4 Days	15 Years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Bunnythorpe
Folio	04/2269
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Richards

30 May 1904

William Allwright
Sarah Sykes

William Allwright
Sarah Sykes
💍 1904/7122

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

49
48

Ashhurst
Ashhurst

26 Years
18 Years

Registrars Office Ashhurst

04/2265

30 May 1904

J. Howard Vincent

No	8
Date of Notice	30 May 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Allwright	Sarah Sykes
	💍 1904/7122
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	49	48
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	26 Years	18 Years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Ashhurst
Folio	04/2265
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1904
Officiating Minister	J. Howard Vincent

4 June 1904

William Herbert Lucas
Laura Russell

William Herbert Lucas
Laura Russell
💍 1904/1859

William Christie
Barbara Russell
💍 1904/2423

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
23

Pahangina
Raumai

9 Years
2 Years

residence of Jessie Russell at Raumai

04/2873

4 June 1904

Rev. J. Jolly

No	9
Date of Notice	4 June 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Lucas	Laura Russell
	💍 1904/1859
BDM Match (60%)	William Christie	Barbara Russell
	💍 1904/2423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Pahangina	Raumai
Length of Residence	9 Years	2 Years
Marriage Place	residence of Jessie Russell at Raumai
Folio	04/2873
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Jolly

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).