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 261

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar William Winsbury 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

1476

14 December 1904

John George Lilley
Martha Jane Lennon

John George Lilley
Martha Jane Lemon
💍 1904/6442

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

29
25

Flemington
near Lauriston

12 Months
25 years

Presbyterian Church at Rakaia

04/6441

14 December 1904

Rev. R. J. Redale

No	1476
Date of Notice	14 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Lilley	Martha Jane Lennon
BDM Match (94%)	John George Lilley	Martha Jane Lemon
	💍 1904/6442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Flemington	near Lauriston
Length of Residence	12 Months	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Rakaia
Folio	04/6441
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Redale

1477

10 December 1904

Alfred Bass
Ellen Matilda Horsey

Alfred Cass
Ellen Matilda Horsey
💍 1904/6207

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
domestic duties

31
32

Willowby
Alford Station

10 years
9 Months

at the dwelling of Edwin Horsey, Alford Station

04/6205

10 December 1904

Mr. William Hain

No	1477
Date of Notice	10 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bass	Ellen Matilda Horsey
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Cass	Ellen Matilda Horsey
	💍 1904/6207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	domestic duties
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Willowby	Alford Station
Length of Residence	10 years	9 Months
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Edwin Horsey, Alford Station
Folio	04/6205
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Mr. William Hain

1478

17 December 1904

Richard Lane
Maggie Hydes

Richard Lane
Maggie Hydes
💍 1905/6058

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

28
24

Ruapuna
Mayfield

4 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church at Mayfield

05/996

17 December 1904

Rev. H. Purchas

No	1478
Date of Notice	17 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Lane	Maggie Hydes
	💍 1905/6058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Ruapuna	Mayfield
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Mayfield
Folio	05/996
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

1479

17 December 1904

Walter Edward Jones
Mabel Louisa Darkin

Walter Edward Jones
Mabel Louisa Parkin
💍 1904/6205

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
dressmaker

34
21

Fairton
Ashburton

2 years
21 years

in the dwelling of Mrs. George Darkin, William Street, Ashburton

04/6203

17 December 1904

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	1479
Date of Notice	17 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Edward Jones	Mabel Louisa Darkin
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Edward Jones	Mabel Louisa Parkin
	💍 1904/6205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	dressmaker
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Fairton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	in the dwelling of Mrs. George Darkin, William Street, Ashburton
Folio	04/6203
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

1480

21 December 1904

Francis Wonnacott
Blanche Lucia Joli

Francis Wonnacott
Blanche Lucia Joli
💍 1904/6182

Bachelor
Spinster

Freezer
domestic duties

18
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

6 years
10 months

Registrar's Office, Ashburton

04/6188

Reuben George Wonnacott, Father

21 December 1904

W. W. White, Registrar

No	1480
Date of Notice	21 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Wonnacott	Blanche Lucia Joli
	💍 1904/6182
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freezer	domestic duties
Age	18	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	6 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Ashburton
Folio	04/6188
Consent	Reuben George Wonnacott, Father
Date of Certificate	21 December 1904
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

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).