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 1020

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar William Jesse Reeves

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

8 January 1904

William Wiles
May Elizabeth Dobson

William Wiles
May Elizabeth Dobson
💍 1904/729

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic

22
20

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

17 years
1 month

Church of England at Mangatainoka

04/1605

William Dobson, father

11 January 1904

Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	8 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wiles	May Elizabeth Dobson
	💍 1904/729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	17 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Church of England at Mangatainoka
Folio	04/1605
Consent	William Dobson, father
Date of Certificate	11 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

8 February 1904

William Leslie Richard Dorsett
Agnes Isabella Humphy

William Leslie Richard Dorset
Agnes Isabella Murphy
💍 1904/3212

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Telephonist

36
27

Ballance
Ballance

5 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Church at Pahiatua

04/601

8 February 1904

Rev. J. M. Kinna, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	8 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leslie Richard Dorsett	Agnes Isabella Humphy
BDM Match (94%)	William Leslie Richard Dorset	Agnes Isabella Murphy
	💍 1904/3212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Telephonist
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Ballance	Ballance
Length of Residence	5 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Pahiatua
Folio	04/601
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Kinna, Roman Catholic

13 February 1904

Charles George Williams
Mary Williams

Charles George Williams
Mary Williams
💍 1904/3208

Bachelor
Widow (since 1899)

Driver
Domestic

37
38

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

14 years
13 years

Registrar's Office, Pahiatua

04/597

13 February 1904

William Jesse Reeves, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Williams	Mary Williams
	💍 1904/3208
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (since 1899)
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	14 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pahiatua
Folio	04/597
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	William Jesse Reeves, Registrar

17 February 1904

Frank Leslie Guldner
Lillian Coe

Frank Leslie Fulcher
Lilian Violet Coe
💍 1904/3211

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic

24
23

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

12 years
1 month

Residence of Rev. S. Barnett, Pahiatua

04/600

17 February 1904

Rev. S. Barnett, Methodist

No	4
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Leslie Guldner	Lillian Coe
BDM Match (69%)	Frank Leslie Fulcher	Lilian Violet Coe
	💍 1904/3211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	12 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. S. Barnett, Pahiatua
Folio	04/600
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Barnett, Methodist

11 March 1904

Andrew Eddie
Ella Isabel Groves

Andrew Eddie
Ella Isabel Groves
💍 1904/3209

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic

23
18

Mangahao
Makomako

13 years
13 years

Registrar's Office, Pahiatua

04/598

James Groves, father

14 March 1904

William J. Reeves, Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	11 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Eddie	Ella Isabel Groves
	💍 1904/3209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Mangahao	Makomako
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pahiatua
Folio	04/598
Consent	James Groves, father
Date of Certificate	14 March 1904
Officiating Minister	William J. Reeves, Registrar

14 March 1904

John Lawkey
Katherine Enstege

John Loukey
Katherine Eustage
💍 1904/3213

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic

27
19

Pongaroa, Pahiatua
Pongaroa, Pahiatua

6 years 3 days
10 years 3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Pongaroa, Pahiatua

04/602

14 March 1904

Rev. Edward Duffy, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	14 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lawkey	Katherine Enstege
BDM Match (85%)	John Loukey	Katherine Eustage
	💍 1904/3213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Pongaroa, Pahiatua	Pongaroa, Pahiatua
Length of Residence	6 years 3 days	10 years 3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pongaroa, Pahiatua
Folio	04/602
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Duffy, Roman Catholic

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).