Intentions to Marry, 1904 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840426, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 13 2025.

1904 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 038

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar Henry Arthur Jackman

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

4 October 1904

Walker Webster
Susan Ellen Hope

Walter Webster
Susan Ellen Hope
💍 1904/4310

Widower
Spinster

Storeman

32
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

32 years
25 years

Mrs. R. Hope's residence, Grove Road, Blenheim

04/6078

4 October 1904

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	48
Date of Notice	4 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walker Webster	Susan Ellen Hope
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Webster	Susan Ellen Hope
	💍 1904/4310
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	32 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. R. Hope's residence, Grove Road, Blenheim
Folio	04/6078
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

13 October 1904

Sydney William Stanley John Neame
Alice May Reeves

Sydney William Stanley John Neame
Alice May Reeves
💍 1904/4333

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Tua Marina
Spring Creek

23 years
21 years

Church of England, Upper Spring Creek

04/6086

13 October 1904

Rev. W. Hollstein

No	49
Date of Notice	13 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney William Stanley John Neame	Alice May Reeves
	💍 1904/4333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Upper Spring Creek
Folio	04/6086
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Hollstein

14 October 1904

Edmund Lowther Broad
Edith Mary Waddy

Edmund Lowther Broad
Edith Mary Waddy
💍 1904/4330

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Agent

34
20

Blenheim
Blenheim

18 months
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

04/6083

Jessie Waddy, mother

14 October 1904

Rev. L. C. Servajean

No	50
Date of Notice	14 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Lowther Broad	Edith Mary Waddy
	💍 1904/4330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Agent
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	04/6083
Consent	Jessie Waddy, mother
Date of Certificate	14 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servajean

18 October 1904

Norman Gibbs
Mabel Rena Carter

Norman Gibbs
Mabel Rena Carter
💍 1904/4321

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 months

Mrs. Carter's House, Hutcheson Street, Blenheim

04/6079

18 October 1904

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	51
Date of Notice	18 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Gibbs	Mabel Rena Carter
	💍 1904/4321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Mrs. Carter's House, Hutcheson Street, Blenheim
Folio	04/6079
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

22 October 1904

Frederick William Heineman
Ellen O'Donoghue

Frederick William Heinemann
Ellen O'Donoghue
💍 1904/4314

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

04/6090

22 October 1904

Rev. L. C. Servajean

No	52
Date of Notice	22 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Heineman	Ellen O'Donoghue
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick William Heinemann	Ellen O'Donoghue
	💍 1904/4314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	04/6090
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servajean

29 October 1904

Ernest James Farr
Mary Slattery

Ernest James Fan
Mary Slattery
💍 1904/4331

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

14 years
24 years

Mrs. Slattery's residence, Blenheim

04/6084

29 October 1904

Rev. L. C. Servajean

No	53
Date of Notice	29 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest James Farr	Mary Slattery
BDM Match (94%)	Ernest James Fan	Mary Slattery
	💍 1904/4331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	14 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Slattery's residence, Blenheim
Folio	04/6084
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servajean

31 October 1904

Charles William Smart
Lillian Maude Stratford

Charles William Smart
Lillian Maude Shatford
💍 1904/4328

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

43
32

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
32 years

Mrs. Stratford's residence, Blenheim

04/6081

31 October 1904

Arch. J. S. Grace

No	54
Date of Notice	31 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Smart	Lillian Maude Stratford
BDM Match (96%)	Charles William Smart	Lillian Maude Shatford
	💍 1904/4328
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	43	32
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Stratford's residence, Blenheim
Folio	04/6081
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Arch. J. S. Grace

3 November 1904

Albert Ernest Gane
Ada Soper

Albert Ernest Gane
Ada Soper
💍 1904/4311

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
25

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

25 years
25 years

Church of England, Spring Creek

04/6087

3 November 1904

Rev. W. Hollstein

No	55
Date of Notice	3 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ernest Gane	Ada Soper
	💍 1904/4311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	04/6087
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Hollstein

5 November 1904

Percy William Hadfield
Helen Coleman

Percy William Hadfield
Helen Coleman
💍 1904/4313

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

23
21

Blenheim
Springlands

10 years
21 years

Mrs. Coleman's residence, Springlands

04/6089

5 November 1904

Rev. G. W. J. Spence

No	56
Date of Notice	5 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy William Hadfield	Helen Coleman
	💍 1904/4313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Springlands
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Coleman's residence, Springlands
Folio	04/6089
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence

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).