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 188

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

Samuel Grassam
Ruth Victoria Stokes

Samuel Grassam
Ruth Victoria Stokes
💍 1904/4341

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 weeks
6 years

The private residence of Mr. Joseph Stokes, Preston Road, Greymouth

04/6162

Joseph Stokes, father

4 October 1904

Rev. G. W. York

No	43
Date of Notice	4 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Grassam	Ruth Victoria Stokes
	💍 1904/4341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr. Joseph Stokes, Preston Road, Greymouth
Folio	04/6162
Consent	Joseph Stokes, father
Date of Certificate	4 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

13 October 1904

George Lewis Cluttenden
Beatrice Charlotte Burrell

George Lewis Chittenden
Beatrice Charlotte Burrell
💍 1904/4342

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
22

Greymouth
Blaketown

4 days
5 years

At the residence of Mr. James Burrell, Blaketown, Greymouth

04/6163

13 October 1904

Rev. G. W. York

No	44
Date of Notice	13 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Lewis Cluttenden	Beatrice Charlotte Burrell
BDM Match (96%)	George Lewis Chittenden	Beatrice Charlotte Burrell
	💍 1904/4342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Blaketown
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. James Burrell, Blaketown, Greymouth
Folio	04/6163
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

2 November 1904

William Scoble
Elizabeth Emily Grant

William Scoble
Elizabeth Emily Grant
💍 1904/4340

Widower
Widow

Groom
Domestic

48
47

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days
18 years

At the private residence of Mr. Andrew Anderson, Murray Street, Greymouth

04/6164

2 November 1904

Rev. J. Trestrail

No	45
Date of Notice	2 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scoble	Elizabeth Emily Grant
	💍 1904/4340
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Groom	Domestic
Age	48	47
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr. Andrew Anderson, Murray Street, Greymouth
Folio	04/6164
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Trestrail

12 November 1904

Thomas Anderson
Georgina Clara Bird

Thomas Anderson
Georgina Clara Bird
💍 1904/4343

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Miner

35
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
3 days

Trinity Church, Greymouth

04/6164

12 November 1904

Rev. G. W. York

No	46
Date of Notice	12 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Anderson	Georgina Clara Bird
	💍 1904/4343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Miner
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	04/6164
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

19 November 1904

Thomas Corpe
Harriett Martin

Thomas Codyre
Harriet Martin
💍 1904/4344

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

30
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

30 years
22 years

The private residence of Mrs. Sarah Jane Martin, Leonard Street, Greymouth

04/6165

19 November 1904

Rev. G. W. York

No	47
Date of Notice	19 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Corpe	Harriett Martin
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Codyre	Harriet Martin
	💍 1904/4344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mrs. Sarah Jane Martin, Leonard Street, Greymouth
Folio	04/6165
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. 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).