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 550

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 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

15 February 1904

Thomas Alfred Dudley
Elizabeth Mary Smith

Thomas Alfred Dudley
Elizabeth Mary Smith
💍 1904/3555

Bachelor
Spinster

Gitter
Domestic duties

31 years
27 years

Kopu
Kopu

4 days
2 years

Church of England, Mary Street, Thames

04/331

16 February 1904

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	15 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alfred Dudley	Elizabeth Mary Smith
	💍 1904/3555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gitter	Domestic duties
Age	31 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	04/331
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

16 February 1904

Henry Halliday Elliot
Mabel May Wood

Henry Halliday Elliot
Mabel May Wood
💍 1904/3552

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34 years
18 years

Omahu
Thames

25 years
18 years

In the house of Mr. Elliot of Omahu

04/328

Henry Moore, father of Mabel May Wood

16 February 1904

Rev. John Hall, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Halliday Elliot	Mabel May Wood
	💍 1904/3552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Omahu	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Elliot of Omahu
Folio	04/328
Consent	Henry Moore, father of Mabel May Wood
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Hall, Presbyterian

22 February 1904

Henry John Ruthven
Una Bateman

Henry John Trethowen
Una Bateman
💍 1904/5110

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

21 years
18 years

Kopu
Kopu

6 years
1 year

At the house of James Bateman, Kopu

04/4396

James Bateman, father of Una Bateman

22 February 1904

Rev. Edward Drake, Primitive Methodist

No	9
Date of Notice	22 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Ruthven	Una Bateman
BDM Match (88%)	Henry John Trethowen	Una Bateman
	💍 1904/5110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	21 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the house of James Bateman, Kopu
Folio	04/4396
Consent	James Bateman, father of Una Bateman
Date of Certificate	22 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Drake, Primitive Methodist

26 February 1904

Hugh William McKinnon
Clara Beatrice Newby

Hugh William McKinnon
Clara Beatrix Newby
💍 1904/3582

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

24 years
22 years

Karekawa, Thames
Tapu

2 months
22 years

House of Capt. Newby, Tapu

04/340

26 February 1904

R. H. Laylor, Church of Christ

No	10
Date of Notice	26 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh William McKinnon	Clara Beatrice Newby
BDM Match (95%)	Hugh William McKinnon	Clara Beatrix Newby
	💍 1904/3582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Karekawa, Thames	Tapu
Length of Residence	2 months	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Capt. Newby, Tapu
Folio	04/340
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1904
Officiating Minister	R. H. Laylor, Church of Christ

29 February 1904

Charles Butler
Ellen Fisher

Charles Butler
Ellen Fisher
💍 1904/3553

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

25 years
20 years

Thames
Thames

5 months
20 years

In the house of Peter Fisher, Hanaka Creek

04/329

Peter Fisher, father of Ellen Fisher

29 February 1904

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	29 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Butler	Ellen Fisher
	💍 1904/3553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 months	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Peter Fisher, Hanaka Creek
Folio	04/329
Consent	Peter Fisher, father of Ellen Fisher
Date of Certificate	29 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

12 March 1904

Harry James Walker
Janet Killgour

Harry James Walker
Janet Killgour
💍 1904/3571

Bachelor
Spinster

Bush Contractor
Domestic Servant

30 years
22 years

Thames
Thames

3 days
18 months

In the house of Mr. Killgour, Mackay Street, Thames

04/339

14 March 1904

Rev. G. Y. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	12 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry James Walker	Janet Killgour
	💍 1904/3571
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bush Contractor	Domestic Servant
Age	30 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Killgour, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	04/339
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Y. Thompson, Presbyterian

15 March 1904

Robert Colhoun
Jessie Lidgard

Robert Colhoun
Jessie Lidgard
💍 1904/3560

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

26 years
19 years

Thames
Thames

5 days
19 years

At the residence of Mr. Lidgard, Parawai

04/335

Joseph Lidgard, father of Jessie Lidgard

15 March 1904

Rev. J. A. Williams, Baptist

No	13
Date of Notice	15 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Colhoun	Jessie Lidgard
	💍 1904/3560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	26 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Lidgard, Parawai
Folio	04/335
Consent	Joseph Lidgard, father of Jessie Lidgard
Date of Certificate	15 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Williams, Baptist

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).