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 1025

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar William J. Reeve

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

13 July 1904

Wellerminna Dighton
Alice Laurie

Willermenna Dighton
Alice Laurie
💍 1904/4878

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

29
31

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

8 months
8 months

Registrar's Office, Pahiatua

04/4107

13 July 1904

William J. Reeve, Registrar of Marriages

No	19
Date of Notice	13 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wellerminna Dighton	Alice Laurie
BDM Match (95%)	Willermenna Dighton	Alice Laurie
	💍 1904/4878
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pahiatua
Folio	04/4107
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1904
Officiating Minister	William J. Reeve, Registrar of Marriages

14 July 1904

William Christian Steffens
Johanne Orthlie

William Christian Steffens
Johanna Ostoyke
💍 1904/5553

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
21

Pahiatua
Makuri

3 days
10 years

Church of England, Pahiatua

04/5040

14 July 1904

Rev. H. S. Seale, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	14 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Christian Steffens	Johanne Orthlie
BDM Match (83%)	William Christian Steffens	Johanna Ostoyke
	💍 1904/5553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Makuri
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Pahiatua
Folio	04/5040
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Seale, Church of England

19 July 1904

Robert Randolph Burling
Hannah McLeod

Robert Randolph Burling
Hannah McLeod
💍 1904/4875

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
19

Pahiatua
Ngaturi

3 days
11 years

The Residence of John McLeod, Ngaturi

04/4108

John McLeod, father of bride

19 July 1904

Rev. James McLeod, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	19 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Randolph Burling	Hannah McLeod
	💍 1904/4875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Ngaturi
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of John McLeod, Ngaturi
Folio	04/4108
Consent	John McLeod, father of bride
Date of Certificate	19 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McLeod, Presbyterian

21 July 1904

Isaac David Davis
Frances Bourne

Isaiah David Davis
Frances Bourne
💍 1904/4870

Widower
Widow

Cabinetmaker
Dressmaker

70
59

Pahiatua
Masterton

4 years
1/2 year

Residence of Arthur Morris, Desire Street, Masterton

04/4100

21 July 1904

Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

No	22
Date of Notice	21 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac David Davis	Frances Bourne
BDM Match (94%)	Isaiah David Davis	Frances Bourne
	💍 1904/4870
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Dressmaker
Age	70	59
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 years	1/2 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Arthur Morris, Desire Street, Masterton
Folio	04/4100
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

23 July 1904

Leonard Alfred Gardner
Mary Ann Thomas

Leonard Alfred Gardner
Mary Ann Thomas
💍 1904/4899

James Inwood Skudder
Mary Ann Thomas
💍 1904/2103

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
23

Nikau
Nikau

15 years
1/2 year

Residence of Andrew Gardner, Nikau

04/4111

23 July 1904

Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

No	23
Date of Notice	23 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Alfred Gardner	Mary Ann Thomas
	💍 1904/4899
BDM Match (64%)	James Inwood Skudder	Mary Ann Thomas
	💍 1904/2103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Nikau	Nikau
Length of Residence	15 years	1/2 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Gardner, Nikau
Folio	04/4111
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

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).