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 1174

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar W. M. Marrisfield

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

117

13 February 1904

Richard Joseph Moore
Alice Clara Preshing

Richard Joseph Moore
Alice Clara Presling
💍 1904/3819

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker

27
24

Petone
Petone

6 yrs
5 yrs

Sacred Heart Church, Britania Street, Petone

04/849

13 February 1904

Rev F.G. Maples

No	117
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Joseph Moore	Alice Clara Preshing
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Joseph Moore	Alice Clara Presling
	💍 1904/3819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	6 yrs	5 yrs
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Britania Street, Petone
Folio	04/849
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev F.G. Maples

118

13 February 1904

William O'Connor
Lucy Maude Smith

William O'Connor
Lucy Maude Smith
💍 1904/3842

William Robertson
Edith Maude Smith
💍 1904/4590

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Domestic Servant

23
22

Paramata
Pahautanui

18 Mo.
12 Mo.

Primitive Methodist Church, Webb St., Wellington

04/881

13 February 1904

Rev John Dawson

No	118
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William O'Connor	Lucy Maude Smith
	💍 1904/3842
BDM Match (62%)	William Robertson	Edith Maude Smith
	💍 1904/4590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Paramata	Pahautanui
Length of Residence	18 Mo.	12 Mo.
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Webb St., Wellington
Folio	04/881
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev John Dawson

119

13 February 1904

Richard Henry Lewis
Annie Gordon

Richard Henry Lewis
Annie Gordon
💍 1904/3338

Widower January 1900
Spinster

Plumber

36
34

Wellington
Wellington

2 Mo.
16 yrs

Residence of Mr F. Lewis, 74 Daniel Street, Wellington

04/799

13 February 1904

Rev W. Shirer

No	119
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Lewis	Annie Gordon
	💍 1904/3338
Condition	Widower January 1900	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 Mo.	16 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr F. Lewis, 74 Daniel Street, Wellington
Folio	04/799
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Shirer

120

15 February 1904

Leslie Arthur Norgrove
Lucy Isabel McPhun

Leslie Arthur Norgrove
Lucy Isabel McPhun
💍 1904/3831

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
30

Kilbirnie
Wellington

20 yrs
30 yrs

Residence of Mr Wood, 59 Hopper Street, Wellington

04/880

15 February 1904

Rev J. Dawson

No	120
Date of Notice	15 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Arthur Norgrove	Lucy Isabel McPhun
	💍 1904/3831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Kilbirnie	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 yrs	30 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Wood, 59 Hopper Street, Wellington
Folio	04/880
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Dawson

121

17 February 1904

Arthur Brice
Rhoda Matilda Goodey

Arthur Bice
Rhoda Matilda Goodey
💍 1904/3793

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
23

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
3 days

St Johns Manse, Woolcombe Street, Wellington

04/828

17 February 1904

Rev Jas Gibb D.D.

No	121
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Brice	Rhoda Matilda Goodey
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Bice	Rhoda Matilda Goodey
	💍 1904/3793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Johns Manse, Woolcombe Street, Wellington
Folio	04/828
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev Jas Gibb D.D.

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).