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 1099

District of Shannon Quarter ending 30 June 1904 Registrar A. C. Nation

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

144

5 April 1904

William McDonald
Florence Elsie Verry

William Macdonald
Florence Elsie Verry
💍 1904/1368

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Farmer
Domestic duties

36
25

Levin
Levin

Three days
Three days

Residence of Mr John James, Harowheuna

04/2377

5 April 1904

Rev J. Wrigley

No	144
Date of Notice	5 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McDonald	Florence Elsie Verry
BDM Match (94%)	William Macdonald	Florence Elsie Verry
	💍 1904/1368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Three days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John James, Harowheuna
Folio	04/2377
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Wrigley

145

12 April 1904

John Edwin Mudgeway
Agnes Brackenridge

John Edwin Mudgway
Agnes Brackenridge
💍 1904/1387

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
17

Levin
Levin

Eight weeks
Two weeks

Residence of Mr Wm Mudgeway, Levin

04/2376

James Brackenridge, father of bride, Wellington

12 April 1904

Rev Jas Wrigley

No	145
Date of Notice	12 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwin Mudgeway	Agnes Brackenridge
BDM Match (97%)	John Edwin Mudgway	Agnes Brackenridge
	💍 1904/1387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Eight weeks	Two weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Wm Mudgeway, Levin
Folio	04/2376
Consent	James Brackenridge, father of bride, Wellington
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Jas Wrigley

146

12 April 1904

Grey Filmer Phillips
Ellen Lydia Bevan

Gray Filmer Phillips
Ellen Lydia Bevan
💍 1904/1371

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter and Builder
Domestic duties

31
20

Levin
Levin

Ten months
Three days

Church of England, Levin

04/2380

12 April 1904

Rev J. A. McRickle

No	146
Date of Notice	12 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Grey Filmer Phillips	Ellen Lydia Bevan
BDM Match (98%)	Gray Filmer Phillips	Ellen Lydia Bevan
	💍 1904/1371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter and Builder	Domestic duties
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Ten months	Three days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Levin
Folio	04/2380
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. McRickle

147

27 April 1904

Wilfred Arthur Lankshear
Sarah Evelyn Richardson

Wilfred Arthur Lankshear
Sarah Evelyn Richardson
💍 1904/1372

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

29
21

Shannon
Shannon

25 years
13 years

Church of England, Shannon

04/2381

27 April 1904

Rev J. A. McRickle

No	147
Date of Notice	27 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Arthur Lankshear	Sarah Evelyn Richardson
	💍 1904/1372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Shannon	Shannon
Length of Residence	25 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Shannon
Folio	04/2381
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. McRickle

148

19 May 1904

Walter Ward Webber
Lucy May Stokes

Walter Ward Webber
Lucy May Stokes
💍 1904/1369

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

38
22

Levin
Levin

12 months
12 months

Wesleyan Parsonage, Levin

04/2378

19 May 1904

Rev J. Wrigley

No	148
Date of Notice	19 May 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ward Webber	Lucy May Stokes
	💍 1904/1369
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage, Levin
Folio	04/2378
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Wrigley

149

20 June 1904

Arthur Stephen Thompson
Susannah Hirst

Arthur Stephen Thompson
Susannah Hirst
💍 1904/1370

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
22

Levin
Levin

5 days
5 years

Wesleyan Church, Levin

04/2379

20 May 1904

Rev J. Wrigley

No	149
Date of Notice	20 June 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Stephen Thompson	Susannah Hirst
	💍 1904/1370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Levin
Folio	04/2379
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Wrigley

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).