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 1053

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar Robert North 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

127

22 December 1904

Charles John Pike
Emily Gertrude Francis

Charles John Pike
Emily Gertrude Francis
💍 1904/4243

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet maker
Machinist

21 years
20 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

8 years
18 years

Salvation Army Barracks, Palmerston North

04/5780

William George Francis, father

22 December 1904

Major Alliston, Salvation Army Officer, Wellington

No	127
Date of Notice	22 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Pike	Emily Gertrude Francis
	💍 1904/4243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet maker	Machinist
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	8 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Palmerston North
Folio	04/5780
Consent	William George Francis, father
Date of Certificate	22 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Major Alliston, Salvation Army Officer, Wellington

128

24 December 1904

George Black
Rose Mary Iskirka

George Black
Rose Mary Iskirka
💍 1904/6289

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32 years
14 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 days
14 years

At the office of the Registrar, Palmerston North

04/5768

John Iskirka, father

24 December 1904

Robt. N. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	128
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Black	Rose Mary Iskirka
	💍 1904/6289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32 years	14 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 days	14 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	04/5768
Consent	John Iskirka, father
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Robt. N. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

129

27 December 1904

Thomas Scott
Flora Lilly Buick

Thomas Scott
Flora Lily Buick
💍 1904/4244

Bachelor
Spinster

Well Borer

22 years
19 years

Karere
Karere

3 days
19 years

At the house of R. J. Seddon, Palmerston North

04/5781

Helen Stuart Buick, mother

27 December 1904

Rev. E. Richards, Baptist Minister, Palmerston North

No	129
Date of Notice	27 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scott	Flora Lilly Buick
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Scott	Flora Lily Buick
	💍 1904/4244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Well Borer
Age	22 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Karere	Karere
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	At the house of R. J. Seddon, Palmerston North
Folio	04/5781
Consent	Helen Stuart Buick, mother
Date of Certificate	27 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Richards, Baptist Minister, Palmerston North

130

27 December 1904

Charles Frederick Bennett
Clarissa Amelia Batchelar

Charles Frederick Bennett
Clarissa Amelia Batchelar
💍 1904/4613

Bachelor
Spinster

Dental Surgeon

25 years
24 years

Palmerston North
Fitzherbert

3 days
22 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

04/6578

27 December 1904

Rev. R. Young, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	130
Date of Notice	27 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Bennett	Clarissa Amelia Batchelar
	💍 1904/4613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dental Surgeon
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Fitzherbert
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	04/6578
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Young, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

131

28 December 1904

Edward Bradbury
Edith Gash

Edward Bradbury
Edith Gash
💍 1904/4692

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmill Hand
Laundress

36 years
23 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
4 months

St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North

04/6999

28 December 1904

Rev. J. Bowden, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

No	131
Date of Notice	28 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Bradbury	Edith Gash
	💍 1904/4692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmill Hand	Laundress
Age	36 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North
Folio	04/6999
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bowden, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

132

28 December 1904

John Cunningham
Louisa Ridd

John Cunningham
Louisa Kidd
💍 1904/6298

Widower
Spinster

Draper
Housekeeper

44 years
40 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

12 years
9 years

At the house of John Cunningham, Palmerston North

04/5776

28 December 1904

Rev. J. H. Mather, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	132
Date of Notice	28 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cunningham	Louisa Ridd
BDM Match (95%)	John Cunningham	Louisa Kidd
	💍 1904/6298
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Housekeeper
Age	44 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	12 years	9 years
Marriage Place	At the house of John Cunningham, Palmerston North
Folio	04/5776
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Mather, Methodist 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).