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 961

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Alfred Perry

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

252

11 July 1904

Ernest Might
Maria Arapere

Ernest Wright
Maria Arapera
💍 1904/4863

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

63
30

Kaipahore
Kaipahore

12 years
7 years

At the Office of the Registrar, Bruce St, Hunterville

04/4083

11 July 1904

Alfred Perry, Registrar

No	252
Date of Notice	11 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Might	Maria Arapere
BDM Match (88%)	Ernest Wright	Maria Arapera
	💍 1904/4863
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	63	30
Dwelling Place	Kaipahore	Kaipahore
Length of Residence	12 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Bruce St, Hunterville
Folio	04/4083
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Alfred Perry, Registrar

253

8 August 1904

Nicholas Charles Sadleir
Minnie Clara Mullins

Nicholas Charles Sadleir
Minnie Clara Mullins
💍 1904/4881

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
30

Pukeroa
Pukerow

6 months
6 years

Church of England, Hunterville

04/4085

8 August 1904

Rev. C. H. Roe

No	253
Date of Notice	8 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Charles Sadleir	Minnie Clara Mullins
	💍 1904/4881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Pukeroa	Pukerow
Length of Residence	6 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hunterville
Folio	04/4085
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Roe

254

8 August 1904

Sydney Havelock Agar
Agnes Smeddon

Sydney Havelock Agar
Agnes Sneddon
💍 1904/5543

Bachelor
Spinster

Inspector Public Works
Domestic Duties

26
24

Auckland
Mangaonaho

7 months
5 years

At the Residence of Walter Smeddon, Mangaonaho

04/5037

8 August 1904

Rev. Jas. B. Hall

No	254
Date of Notice	8 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Havelock Agar	Agnes Smeddon
BDM Match (96%)	Sydney Havelock Agar	Agnes Sneddon
	💍 1904/5543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Inspector Public Works	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mangaonaho
Length of Residence	7 months	5 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Walter Smeddon, Mangaonaho
Folio	04/5037
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. B. Hall

255

15 August 1904

David Pritchard
Millis Susan Lewer

David Pritchard
Millis Susan Lewer
💍 1904/4882

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Domestic Duties

27
19

Mangaonaho
Sandon Block

8 years
8 years

At the Residence of Mr. Lewer, Sandon Block

04/4086

Henry Lewer, Father

15 August 1904

Rev. C. H. Roe

No	255
Date of Notice	15 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Pritchard	Millis Susan Lewer
	💍 1904/4882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Mangaonaho	Sandon Block
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr. Lewer, Sandon Block
Folio	04/4086
Consent	Henry Lewer, Father
Date of Certificate	15 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Roe

256

25 August 1904

William Town
Mary Wolstenholme

William Town
Mary Wolstenholme
💍 1904/4874

Widower
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic Duties

63
49

Hunterville
Hunterville

14 years
3 days

At the Office of the Registrar, Bruce St, Hunterville

04/4084

25 August 1904

Alfred Perry, Registrar

No	256
Date of Notice	25 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Town	Mary Wolstenholme
	💍 1904/4874
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic Duties
Age	63	49
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	14 years	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Bruce St, Hunterville
Folio	04/4084
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Alfred Perry, Registrar

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).