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 251

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1904 Registrar William Wrisbury White

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

1431

11 April 1904

Robert McElhinney
Catherine Ross Sim

Robert McElhinney
Catherine Rose Sim
💍 1904/7016

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
24

Ashburton
Tinwald

7 years
14 years

At the house of Mrs. Catherine Sim, the terrace, Tinwald

04/2896

11 April 1904

Rev. J. G. Paterson, M.A.

No	1431
Date of Notice	11 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McElhinney	Catherine Ross Sim
BDM Match (97%)	Robert McElhinney	Catherine Rose Sim
	💍 1904/7016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	7 years	14 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mrs. Catherine Sim, the terrace, Tinwald
Folio	04/2896
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, M.A.

1432

15 April 1904

Frederick William Watt
Louisa Ann Grant McDonald

Frederick William Watt
Louisa Ann Grant McDonald
💍 1904/1884

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Teacher

26
24

Ashburton
Ashburton

13 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church at Ashburton

04/2900

12 April 1904

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	1432
Date of Notice	15 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Watt	Louisa Ann Grant McDonald
	💍 1904/1884
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Teacher
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	13 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Ashburton
Folio	04/2900
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

1433

16 April 1904

Frederick William Ironside
Jane Doig

Frederick William Ironside
Jane Doig
💍 1904/2166

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

26
28

Chertsey
Chertsey

10 years
22 years

In the house of Peter Doig, Chertsey

04/3223

16 April 1904

Rev. J. J. Riddle

No	1433
Date of Notice	16 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Ironside	Jane Doig
	💍 1904/2166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Chertsey	Chertsey
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Peter Doig, Chertsey
Folio	04/3223
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Riddle

1434

20 April 1904

Richard David Johnston
Sarah Emma Caldicott

Richard David Johnston
Sarah Emma Coldicott
💍 1904/5193

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Dealer
Domestic duties

29
25

Ashburton
Treverton

10 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

04/4504

20 April 1904

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

No	1434
Date of Notice	20 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard David Johnston	Sarah Emma Caldicott
BDM Match (98%)	Richard David Johnston	Sarah Emma Coldicott
	💍 1904/5193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Dealer	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Treverton
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	04/4504
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

1435

27 April 1904

George Nelson
Henrietta Frances Marie Bellmin

George Nelson
Harriette Frances Marie Bellmuir
💍 1904/1873

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Governess

21
32

Hinds
Tinwald

5 years
13 years

Church of England, Tinwald

04/2912

27 April 1904

Rev. E. N. Blakiston

No	1435
Date of Notice	27 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Nelson	Henrietta Frances Marie Bellmin
BDM Match (92%)	George Nelson	Harriette Frances Marie Bellmuir
	💍 1904/1873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Governess
Age	21	32
Dwelling Place	Hinds	Tinwald
Length of Residence	5 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tinwald
Folio	04/2912
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. N. Blakiston

1436

2 May 1904

Alexander Reed
Emily Elizabeth Price

Alexander Reed
Emily Elizabeth Price
💍 1904/1866

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

23
25

Christchurch
Ashburton

23 years 5 days
25 years

House of Mrs. Emily Jones, Peter Street, Ashburton

04/2905

2 May 1904

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	1436
Date of Notice	2 May 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Reed	Emily Elizabeth Price
	💍 1904/1866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ashburton
Length of Residence	23 years 5 days	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Emily Jones, Peter Street, Ashburton
Folio	04/2905
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

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).