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 1285

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1904

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

695

11 October 1904

James Joseph Nicoll
Maria Brosina Devery

James Joseph Nicoll
Maria Rosina Devery
💍 1904/6062

Bachelor
Widow

Wool Classer

54
45

Wellington
Wellington

5 months
12 months

St. Joseph's Church, Wellington

04/5953

11 October 1904

Rev. N. B. Moloney

No	695
Date of Notice	11 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Nicoll	Maria Brosina Devery
BDM Match (95%)	James Joseph Nicoll	Maria Rosina Devery
	💍 1904/6062
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Wool Classer
Age	54	45
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 months	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Church, Wellington
Folio	04/5953
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. B. Moloney

696

13 October 1904

Joseph Henry Gledhill
Annie Jane Elizabeth Somerville

Joseph Henry Gledhill
Annie James Elizabeth Somerville
💍 1904/6087

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

31
27

Wellington
Island Bay, Wellington

15 months
27 years

Residence of W. G. Somerville, Westbeach

04/5978

13 October 1904

Rev. Geo. Bond

No	696
Date of Notice	13 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Gledhill	Annie Jane Elizabeth Somerville
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Henry Gledhill	Annie James Elizabeth Somerville
	💍 1904/6087
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Island Bay, Wellington
Length of Residence	15 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. G. Somerville, Westbeach
Folio	04/5978
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Bond

697

14 October 1904

Jonas Grummell
Elizabeth Mary Whitwell

Jonas Grimnell
Elizabeth Mary Whitwell
💍 1904/4303

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

41
35

Wellington
Webb Street, Wellington

7 years
19 years

Primitive Methodist Church

04/6018

14 October 1904

Rev. J. Dawson

No	697
Date of Notice	14 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jonas Grummell	Elizabeth Mary Whitwell
BDM Match (93%)	Jonas Grimnell	Elizabeth Mary Whitwell
	💍 1904/4303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Webb Street, Wellington
Length of Residence	7 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church
Folio	04/6018
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson

698

15 October 1904

Charles Perrett
Gertrude Watson

Charles Perrett
Gertrude Watson
💍 1904/6072

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
20

Wellington
Wellington South

24 years
16 years

St. Ann's Church

04/5962

Margaret Watson, Mother

15 October 1904

Rev. J. Ainsworth

No	698
Date of Notice	15 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Perrett	Gertrude Watson
	💍 1904/6072
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington South
Length of Residence	24 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Ann's Church
Folio	04/5962
Consent	Margaret Watson, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ainsworth

699

17 October 1904

William Douglas
Margaret Nicol

William Douglas
Margaret Nicol
💍 1904/4284

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Decorator

35
34

Wellington
Kilbirnie

2 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. R. Haggerty, 24 Vivian Street, Wellington

04/5984

17 October 1904

Rev. J. Gibb D.D.

No	699
Date of Notice	17 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Douglas	Margaret Nicol
	💍 1904/4284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Decorator
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Kilbirnie
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. R. Haggerty, 24 Vivian Street, Wellington
Folio	04/5984
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibb D.D.

700

17 October 1904

Athol William Waters
Mary Mullan

Athol William Waters
Mary Mullan
💍 1904/6048

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Guard

26
20

Wellington
Porirua

26
20

Residence of Mr. E. Stewart, Berhampore, Wellington

04/5913

Thomas Mullan, Father

17 October 1904

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	700
Date of Notice	17 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athol William Waters	Mary Mullan
	💍 1904/6048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Guard
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Porirua
Length of Residence	26	20
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. E. Stewart, Berhampore, Wellington
Folio	04/5913
Consent	Thomas Mullan, Father
Date of Certificate	17 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

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).