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 1033

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar Robt. W. Keeling

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

2 February 1904

Augustine John Radomski
Mary Martha Wischuewski

Augustin John Radomski
Mary Martha Wischnewski
💍 1904/1349

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Dressmaker

33
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
5 years

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

04/2355

2 February 1904

Rev. P. W. Lymons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

No	15
Date of Notice	2 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustine John Radomski	Mary Martha Wischuewski
BDM Match (96%)	Augustin John Radomski	Mary Martha Wischnewski
	💍 1904/1349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Dressmaker
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	04/2355
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Lymons, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

5 February 1904

Peter Setter
Catherine Rosanna Carroll

Peter Setter
Catherine Rosanna Carroll
💍 1904/3233

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 years
3 days

At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North

04/622

Mary Hamilton, mother

5 February 1904

Robt. W. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	16
Date of Notice	5 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Setter	Catherine Rosanna Carroll
	💍 1904/3233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	04/622
Consent	Mary Hamilton, mother
Date of Certificate	5 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Robt. W. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

10 February 1904

William Henry Pike
Amelia Ann Baylis

William Henry Pike
Amelia Ann Baylis
💍 1904/3215

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 years
12 years

At the house of William John Baylis, Palmerston North

04/604

10 February 1904

Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	17
Date of Notice	10 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Pike	Amelia Ann Baylis
	💍 1904/3215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	At the house of William John Baylis, Palmerston North
Folio	04/604
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

12 February 1904

John Parker Baylis
Martha Sophia Baylis

John Parker
Martha Sophia Baylis
💍 1904/3214

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter

30
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
12 years

At the house of William John Baylis, Palmerston North

04/603

10 February 1904

Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	18
Date of Notice	12 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Parker Baylis	Martha Sophia Baylis
BDM Match (81%)	John Parker	Martha Sophia Baylis
	💍 1904/3214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	At the house of William John Baylis, Palmerston North
Folio	04/603
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Lawry, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

16 February 1904

James Johnson Brown
Margaret Mary Brown

James Johnstone
Margaret Mary Brown
💍 1904/740

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
31

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
4 months

At the house of Rev. I. Jolly, Palmerston North

04/1644

16 February 1904

Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

No	19
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Johnson Brown	Margaret Mary Brown
BDM Match (82%)	James Johnstone	Margaret Mary Brown
	💍 1904/740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	At the house of Rev. I. Jolly, Palmerston North
Folio	04/1644
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

17 February 1904

Charles Albert Drury
Ethel Gladys Smith

Charles Albert Drury
Ethel Gladys Smith
💍 1904/3247

Bachelor
Spinster

Labor Overseer

31
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 weeks
20 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

04/613

17 February 1904

Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	20
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Albert Drury	Ethel Gladys Smith
	💍 1904/3247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labor Overseer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 weeks	20 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	04/613
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

17 February 1904

William Arthur Terrill
Mary Ridley

William Arthur Terrill
Mary Ridley
💍 1904/3248

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Barmaid

23
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 days
9 months

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

04/614

17 February 1904

Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	21
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Terrill	Mary Ridley
	💍 1904/3248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Barmaid
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 days	9 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	04/614
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

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).