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 180

District of Auckland 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

918

23 December 1904

Joseph Josiah Box
Anna Elizabeth Pein

Joseph Josiah Box
Anna Elizabeth Petersen
💍 1904/5660

Bachelor
Spinster

Outfitter

36
28

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
10 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

04/5774

23 December 1904

Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

No	918
Date of Notice	23 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Josiah Box	Anna Elizabeth Pein
BDM Match (89%)	Joseph Josiah Box	Anna Elizabeth Petersen
	💍 1904/5660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Outfitter
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	04/5774
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

919

23 December 1904

John Gamble Knox
Mary Jane Willis

John Gamble Knox
Mary Ann Humphrey Willis
💍 1904/4683

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

47
36

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
36 years

House of Rev. J. Clark, Auckland

04/7017

23 December 1904

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	919
Date of Notice	23 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gamble Knox	Mary Jane Willis
BDM Match (76%)	John Gamble Knox	Mary Ann Humphrey Willis
	💍 1904/4683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	47	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Clark, Auckland
Folio	04/7017
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

920

23 December 1904

Sidney Edwin Totman
Margaret Battersby

Sidney Edwin Tatman
Margaret Battersby
💍 1905/6253

Bachelor
Spinster

Restaurant Keeper

26
25

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
20 years

St. Sepulchre's Church, Auckland

05/1255

23 December 1904

Rev. S. A. Carver, Church of England

No	920
Date of Notice	23 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Edwin Totman	Margaret Battersby
BDM Match (97%)	Sidney Edwin Tatman	Margaret Battersby
	💍 1905/6253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Restaurant Keeper
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchre's Church, Auckland
Folio	05/1255
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. A. Carver, Church of England

921

24 December 1904

James Hack Lush
Beatrice Marshall

James Flack Lush
Beatrice Fanny Marshall
💍 1905/5548

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
23

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
9 years

St. Peter's Church, Onehunga

05/80

24 December 1904

Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

No	921
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hack Lush	Beatrice Marshall
BDM Match (81%)	James Flack Lush	Beatrice Fanny Marshall
	💍 1905/5548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Onehunga
Folio	05/80
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

922

24 December 1904

Matthew John Brunett
Margaret Haywoodhouse

Matthew John Bennett
Ethel Margaret Hay Woodhouse
💍 1904/4685

Widower
Divorcee

Decorator

43
34

Auckland
Auckland

40 years
20 years

House of Rev. J. Clark, 20 Whittaker Place

04/7019

24 December 1904

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	922
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew John Brunett	Margaret Haywoodhouse
BDM Match (81%)	Matthew John Bennett	Ethel Margaret Hay Woodhouse
	💍 1904/4685
Condition	Widower	Divorcee
Profession	Decorator
Age	43	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	40 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Clark, 20 Whittaker Place
Folio	04/7019
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

923

24 December 1904

Thomas Picking
Matilda Storry

Thomas Pickens
Matilda Storey
💍 1904/6236

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

45
36

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
12 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

04/5252

24 December 1904

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	923
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Picking	Matilda Storry
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Pickens	Matilda Storey
	💍 1904/6236
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	04/5252
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

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).