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 951

District of Halcombe Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar James Curtlip

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

19 July 1904

Herbert Wallace Gosser
Margaret Green

Herbert Wallace Gower
Margaret Green
💍 1904/6862

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
23

Halcombe
Halcombe

5 days
23 years

The residence of Mr. M. Green, Hinny Halcombe

04/4754

19 July 1904

Rev. J. O'Meara, R.C. Priest

No	7
Date of Notice	19 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Wallace Gosser	Margaret Green
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Wallace Gower	Margaret Green
	💍 1904/6862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Halcombe	Halcombe
Length of Residence	5 days	23 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. M. Green, Hinny Halcombe
Folio	04/4754
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Meara, R.C. Priest

9 August 1904

Michael Peterson
Sophia Thorsen

Michael Peterson
Sophia Thorson
💍 1904/4851

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

30
27

Halcombe
Halcombe

25 years
20 years

Lutherian Church, Hinny

04/4079

9 August 1904

Rev. M. Christensen, Lutherian Minister

No	8
Date of Notice	9 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Peterson	Sophia Thorsen
BDM Match (96%)	Michael Peterson	Sophia Thorson
	💍 1904/4851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Halcombe	Halcombe
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Lutherian Church, Hinny
Folio	04/4079
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Christensen, Lutherian Minister

16 August 1904

Albert Joseph Noble
Louise Emillie Eva Wapp

Albert Joseph Doble
Louisa Emilie Wapp
💍 1904/4854

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
24

Halcombe
Halcombe

5 days
24 years

The residence of C. H. Wapp, Halcombe

04/4082

16 August 1904

Rev. B. Hordley, Methodist Minister

No	9
Date of Notice	16 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Joseph Noble	Louise Emillie Eva Wapp
BDM Match (84%)	Albert Joseph Doble	Louisa Emilie Wapp
	💍 1904/4854
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Halcombe	Halcombe
Length of Residence	5 days	24 years
Marriage Place	The residence of C. H. Wapp, Halcombe
Folio	04/4082
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Hordley, Methodist Minister

16 August 1904

John Bottcher
Albertina Luttaschefski

John Bottcher
Albertina Lukaschefsky
💍 1904/4853

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic duties

61
41

Halcombe
Halcombe

8 weeks
20 years

Lutherian Church, Halcombe

04/4081

16 August 1904

Rev. M. J. Winteler, Lutherian Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	16 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bottcher	Albertina Luttaschefski
BDM Match (94%)	John Bottcher	Albertina Lukaschefsky
	💍 1904/4853
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	61	41
Dwelling Place	Halcombe	Halcombe
Length of Residence	8 weeks	20 years
Marriage Place	Lutherian Church, Halcombe
Folio	04/4081
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Winteler, Lutherian Minister

13 September 1904

Frank White Packord
Emma Ada Martha Wapp

Frank White Packard
Emma Eda Martha Wapp
💍 1904/4852

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

26
22

Halcombe
Halcombe

3 days
22 years

Lutherian Church, Halcombe

04/4080

13 September 1904

Rev. M. J. Winteler, Lutherian Minister

No	11
Date of Notice	13 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank White Packord	Emma Ada Martha Wapp
BDM Match (95%)	Frank White Packard	Emma Eda Martha Wapp
	💍 1904/4852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Halcombe	Halcombe
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Lutherian Church, Halcombe
Folio	04/4080
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Winteler, Lutherian Minister

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).