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 122

District of Motueka Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar H. A. Tarrant

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

23 January 1904

John Guy
Flora Margaret White

John Guy
Flora Margaret White
💍 1904/709

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Household duties

31 years
20 years

Ngatimoti, usual Taranaki
Ngatimoti

3 days
4 months

Ngatimoti Church

04/1609

Alex. White, father

25 January 1904

Rev. W. G. Baker

No	1
Date of Notice	23 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Guy	Flora Margaret White
	💍 1904/709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Household duties
Age	31 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Ngatimoti, usual Taranaki	Ngatimoti
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Ngatimoti Church
Folio	04/1609
Consent	Alex. White, father
Date of Certificate	25 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Baker

5 February 1904

James Hepburn Lyall
Florence Louisa Gagg Fry

James Hepburn Lyall
Florence Louisa Gagg Fry
💍 1904/3303

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

28 years
20 years

Riwaka, usual Wanganui
Riwaka

4 days
20 years

St. Thomas Church, Motueka

04/940

James William Fry, father

5 February 1904

Rev. Thomas Johnston

No	2
Date of Notice	5 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hepburn Lyall	Florence Louisa Gagg Fry
	💍 1904/3303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	28 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka, usual Wanganui	Riwaka
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Motueka
Folio	04/940
Consent	James William Fry, father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston

16 February 1904

William Lane
Henrietta Askew

William Lane
Henrietta Askew
💍 1904/3305

Bachelor
Spinster

Building Contractor
Household duties

39 years
31 years

Riwaka
Riwaka

15 months
31 years

Peter Askew's house, Riwaka

04/942

16 February 1904

Rev. I. H. Mac Kenzie

No	3
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lane	Henrietta Askew
	💍 1904/3305
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Building Contractor	Household duties
Age	39 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	15 months	31 years
Marriage Place	Peter Askew's house, Riwaka
Folio	04/942
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. H. Mac Kenzie

20 February 1904

Edward Burns Moore
Ruby Fortescue Leslie

Edward Burns Moore
Ruby Fortescue Leslie
💍 1904/3304

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister
Household duties

27 years
21 years

Nelson
Motueka

27 years
18 years

St. Thomas Church, Motueka

04/941

20 February 1904

Rev. Thomas Johnston

No	4
Date of Notice	20 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Burns Moore	Ruby Fortescue Leslie
	💍 1904/3304
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister	Household duties
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Motueka
Length of Residence	27 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Motueka
Folio	04/941
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Johnston

23 March 1904

Lawrence Charles Thomas Inwood
Emily Charlton Alexander

Laurence Charles Thomas Inwood
Emily Charlton Alexander
💍 1904/3306

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit grower
Domestic duties

25 years
29 years

Pangatotara
Pangatotara

25 years
14 years

Henry Inwood's house, Pangatotara

04/943

23 March 1904

Rev. Amos Reader

No	5
Date of Notice	23 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Charles Thomas Inwood	Emily Charlton Alexander
BDM Match (98%)	Laurence Charles Thomas Inwood	Emily Charlton Alexander
	💍 1904/3306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit grower	Domestic duties
Age	25 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Pangatotara	Pangatotara
Length of Residence	25 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Henry Inwood's house, Pangatotara
Folio	04/943
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Amos Reader

5 April 1904

James William Smith
Catherine Mary McLean

James William Smith
Catherine Mary McLean
💍 1904/1703

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

29 years
27 years

Riwaka, usual Rai Valley
Riwaka

4 days
27 years

Registrar's Office, Motueka

See June qr.

5 April 1904

H. A. Tarrant, Registrar

No	6
Date of Notice	5 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Smith	Catherine Mary McLean
	💍 1904/1703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	29 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka, usual Rai Valley	Riwaka
Length of Residence	4 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Motueka
Folio	See June qr.
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1904
Officiating Minister	H. A. Tarrant, Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).