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 186

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Benjamin Harpy

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 July 1904

William James Tilley Short
Clara Mary Evelyn Ten

William James Lilleyshort
Clara Mary Evelyn Tew
💍 1904/5161

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

29
20

Reefton
Greymouth

3 days
20 years

Church of England, Greymouth

04/4473

Mary Emily Ten, mother

4 July 1904

Rev. F. W. York

No	34
Date of Notice	4 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Tilley Short	Clara Mary Evelyn Ten
BDM Match (92%)	William James Lilleyshort	Clara Mary Evelyn Tew
	💍 1904/5161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	04/4473
Consent	Mary Emily Ten, mother
Date of Certificate	4 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. York

5 July 1904

Patrick Trueburn Keenan
Mary Walch

Patrick Freeburn Keenan
Mary Walsh
💍 1904/6915

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

32
29

Kumara
Nelson Creek near Paroa

4 days
29 years

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

04/6167

5 July 1904

Dean D. P. Caren

No	35
Date of Notice	5 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Trueburn Keenan	Mary Walch
BDM Match (91%)	Patrick Freeburn Keenan	Mary Walsh
	💍 1904/6915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Kumara	Nelson Creek near Paroa
Length of Residence	4 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	04/6167
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Dean D. P. Caren

7 July 1904

Oscar Larsson
Katrina Thompson

Oscar Larsson
Katrina Thompson
💍 1904/5162

Bachelor
Spinster

Wharf Labourer
Servant

29
26

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 months
2 years

Church of England, Greymouth

04/4474

7 July 1904

Rev. F. W. York

No	36
Date of Notice	7 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Larsson	Katrina Thompson
	💍 1904/5162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wharf Labourer	Servant
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	04/4474
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. York

12 July 1904

James Sweeney
Louie Dickens

James Sweeney
Louie Dickens
💍 1904/5166

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

27
26

Reefton
Cobden

4 days
9 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

04/4477

12 July 1904

The Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

No	37
Date of Notice	12 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Sweeney	Louie Dickens
	💍 1904/5166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Cobden
Length of Residence	4 days	9 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	04/4477
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1904
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

26 July 1904

William Andrew Anderson
Ellen Gertrude Costigan

William Andrew Anderson
Ellen Gertrude Costegan
💍 1904/5167

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

31
28

Greymouth
Hokitika

9 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

04/4478

26 July 1904

Rev. Dennis Lean

No	38
Date of Notice	26 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Andrew Anderson	Ellen Gertrude Costigan
BDM Match (98%)	William Andrew Anderson	Ellen Gertrude Costegan
	💍 1904/5167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Hokitika
Length of Residence	9 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	04/4478
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dennis Lean

12 August 1904

Harry Seebeck
Hannah Caroline Ann McLauchlan

Henry Seebeck
Hannah Caroline Ann McLauchlan
💍 1904/5163

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

23
21

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
8 years

Private residence of Mr. Albert Burrell, Carpenter, Cobden

04/4475

12 August 1904

Rev. F. W. York

No	39
Date of Notice	12 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Seebeck	Hannah Caroline Ann McLauchlan
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Seebeck	Hannah Caroline Ann McLauchlan
	💍 1904/5163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mr. Albert Burrell, Carpenter, Cobden
Folio	04/4475
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. York

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).