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 399

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

659

2 July 1904

William Alfred Rooke
Bathilde Mary Hansen

William Alfred Rooke
Batilda Mary Hansen
💍 1904/5266

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

33
24

Te Moana
Geraldine

2 years
4 months

The house of Mr. Martins Hansen

04/4634

4 July 1904

Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	659
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Rooke	Bathilde Mary Hansen
BDM Match (95%)	William Alfred Rooke	Batilda Mary Hansen
	💍 1904/5266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Te Moana	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Martins Hansen
Folio	04/4634
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Clement, Primitive Methodist

660

16 July 1904

Andrew Howden
Agnes Henchau

Andrew Howden
Agnes Henchan
💍 1904/5246

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

24
21

Te Moana
Te Moana

24 years
3 months

The house of Mr. Edward Howden

04/4636

16 July 1904

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	660
Date of Notice	16 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Howden	Agnes Henchau
BDM Match (96%)	Andrew Howden	Agnes Henchan
	💍 1904/5246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Te Moana	Te Moana
Length of Residence	24 years	3 months
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Edward Howden
Folio	04/4636
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

661

16 July 1904

William Arthur Hines
Margery Howden

William Arthur Hines
Margory Howden
💍 1904/5267

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic Duties

21
27

Te Moana
Te Moana

4 years
27 years

The house of Mr. Edward Howden

04/4635

16 July 1904

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	661
Date of Notice	16 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Hines	Margery Howden
BDM Match (96%)	William Arthur Hines	Margory Howden
	💍 1904/5267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic Duties
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	Te Moana	Te Moana
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Edward Howden
Folio	04/4635
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

662

2 July 1904

Alfred Alec Clements
Anna Tagg

Alfred Alec Clements
Anna Tagg
💍 1904/5247

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
26

Gapes Valley
Gapes Valley

2 years
15 years

The house of Mr. Jonathan Harry Mason Tagg, Gapes Valley

04/4637

2 July 1904

Rev. John Knox Bartie, Church of England

No	662
Date of Notice	2 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Alec Clements	Anna Tagg
	💍 1904/5247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Gapes Valley	Gapes Valley
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Jonathan Harry Mason Tagg, Gapes Valley
Folio	04/4637
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Knox Bartie, Church of England

663

23 August 1904

William M. Ford
Jane Riches

William McLeod
Jane Riches
💍 1904/5248

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

37
27

Orari Gorge
Woodbury

11 years
26 years

St. Thomas Church, Woodbury

04/4638

23 August 1904

Rev. Stephen Hamilton, Church of England

No	663
Date of Notice	23 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William M. Ford	Jane Riches
BDM Match (87%)	William McLeod	Jane Riches
	💍 1904/5248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Orari Gorge	Woodbury
Length of Residence	11 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Woodbury
Folio	04/4638
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stephen Hamilton, Church of England

664

13 September 1904

Thomas Harrison Baughan
Florence Ellen White

Thomas Harrison Baughen
Florence Ellen White
💍 1904/5249

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

31
36

Geraldine
Geraldine

30 years
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

04/4639

13 September 1904

Rev. W. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	664
Date of Notice	13 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harrison Baughan	Florence Ellen White
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Harrison Baughen	Florence Ellen White
	💍 1904/5249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	36
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	30 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	04/4639
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

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).