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 071

District of Brunnerton Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar James McKittrick

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

10 October 1904

Walter Baxter
Elizabeth Ann Rawes

Walter Baxter
Elizabeth Ann Rowse
💍 1904/4319

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Home Duties

27
21

Brunnerton
Stillwater

3 days
17 years

Private Residence of Mr. J. Rawes, Stillwater

04/6095

10 October 1904

Rev. Thos. Eastrail

No	9
Date of Notice	10 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Baxter	Elizabeth Ann Rawes
BDM Match (92%)	Walter Baxter	Elizabeth Ann Rowse
	💍 1904/4319
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Home Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Brunnerton	Stillwater
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. J. Rawes, Stillwater
Folio	04/6095
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Eastrail

17 October 1904

Henry Thomas Rise
Bessie Nicholas

Henry Thomas Rix
Bessie Nicholas
💍 1904/4320

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Home Duties

30
23

Reefton
Brunnerton

6 weeks
3 years

Residence of Mr. Campbell, Heathdale

04/6096

17 October 1904

Rev. Thos. Eastrail

No	10
Date of Notice	17 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Thomas Rise	Bessie Nicholas
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Thomas Rix	Bessie Nicholas
	💍 1904/4320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Home Duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Brunnerton
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Campbell, Heathdale
Folio	04/6096
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Eastrail

10 December 1904

Peter Wafforn
Ruth McKenzie

Peter Dafforn
Ruth Mackenzie
💍 1904/4322

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Home Duties

29
22

Heathdale
Heathdale

18 years
22 years

Dwelling House of Mr. Hannah McKenzie, Heathdale

04/6097

10 December 1904

Rev. Robert Stuart

No	11
Date of Notice	10 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Wafforn	Ruth McKenzie
BDM Match (89%)	Peter Dafforn	Ruth Mackenzie
	💍 1904/4322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Home Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Heathdale	Heathdale
Length of Residence	18 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. Hannah McKenzie, Heathdale
Folio	04/6097
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Stuart

19 December 1904

Henry George Duncan Gage
Isabella Argus McClaren Russell

Henry George Duncan Gage
Isabella Angus McLaren Russell
💍 1904/4323

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Home Duties

25
19

Heathdale
Brunnerton

5 months
19 years

St. Saviours Church

04/6098

Robert Russell, father

19 December 1904

Rev. H. J. Barnett

No	12
Date of Notice	19 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Duncan Gage	Isabella Argus McClaren Russell
BDM Match (95%)	Henry George Duncan Gage	Isabella Angus McLaren Russell
	💍 1904/4323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Home Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Heathdale	Brunnerton
Length of Residence	5 months	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church
Folio	04/6098
Consent	Robert Russell, father
Date of Certificate	19 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Barnett

23 December 1904

Gabriel Heinz
Jessie Samuel Duncan

Gabriel Heinz
Jessie Samuel Duncan
💍 1904/4324

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Home Duties

25
22

Brunnerton
Brunnerton

3 days
1 year

Dwelling House of Mr. John Duncan

04/6099

23 December 1904

Rev. R. T. G. McDowell

No	13
Date of Notice	23 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gabriel Heinz	Jessie Samuel Duncan
	💍 1904/4324
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Home Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Brunnerton	Brunnerton
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. John Duncan
Folio	04/6099
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. G. McDowell

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).