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 432

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar W. D. Wallace

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

11 July 1904

George Henry Ward
Eliza Wills

George Henry Word
Eliza Wills
💍 1904/5259

Bachelor
Widow

Baker
Nil

28
40

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

5 days
5 days

At the residence of W. Walker Ingram, Dampier's Bay

04/4648

11 July 1904

Rev. John W. Rewsie, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	11 July 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Ward	Eliza Wills
BDM Match (97%)	George Henry Word	Eliza Wills
	💍 1904/5259
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Baker	Nil
Age	28	40
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	At the residence of W. Walker Ingram, Dampier's Bay
Folio	04/4648
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John W. Rewsie, Presbyterian

4 August 1904

Jessie Elstob
Emma Frances Day

Jessie Elstob
Emma Frances Day
💍 1904/3984

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Servant

21
20

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

7 months
20 years

At the house of W. Frederick Day, Oxford St, Lyttelton

04/4650

Frederick Day, father

4 August 1904

Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

No	30
Date of Notice	4 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jessie Elstob	Emma Frances Day
	💍 1904/3984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Servant
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	7 months	20 years
Marriage Place	At the house of W. Frederick Day, Oxford St, Lyttelton
Folio	04/4650
Consent	Frederick Day, father
Date of Certificate	4 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

9 August 1904

Southeston Henry George
Caroline Lennis Bessie Burbery

Sutherton Henry George
Caroline Leurice Bessie Burbury
💍 1904/5260

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman
Nil

21
19

Heathcote
Heathcote

3 days
2 years

At the house of W. James Burbery, Heathcote Valley

04/4649

James Burbery, father

9 August 1904

Rev. John Orchard, Methodist

No	31
Date of Notice	9 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Southeston Henry George	Caroline Lennis Bessie Burbery
BDM Match (88%)	Sutherton Henry George	Caroline Leurice Bessie Burbury
	💍 1904/5260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman	Nil
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Heathcote
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	At the house of W. James Burbery, Heathcote Valley
Folio	04/4649
Consent	James Burbery, father
Date of Certificate	9 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Orchard, Methodist

9 August 1904

Gordon James Riach
Amy Florence Hills

Gordon James Riach
Amy Florence Hills
💍 1904/3995

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Nil

22
21

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

22 years
11 months

At the house of W. Alfred Bacon, Selwyn Terrace, Lyttelton

04/4657

9 August 1904

Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

No	32
Date of Notice	9 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon James Riach	Amy Florence Hills
	💍 1904/3995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Nil
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	22 years	11 months
Marriage Place	At the house of W. Alfred Bacon, Selwyn Terrace, Lyttelton
Folio	04/4657
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

7 September 1904

William Burn
Ellen Elizabeth Crosweller

William Burn
Ellen Elizabeth Crosweller
💍 1904/4002

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

24
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
12 months

At Wesleyan Church, Lyttelton

04/4652

7 September 1904

Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

No	33
Date of Notice	7 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Burn	Ellen Elizabeth Crosweller
	💍 1904/4002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	At Wesleyan Church, Lyttelton
Folio	04/4652
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

12 September 1904

William Henry Smith
Rose Wright

William Henry Smith
Rose Wright
💍 1904/6990

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Duties

32
22

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
22 years

At the house of W. Samuel Wright, Jackson's, Lyttelton

04/4653

12 September 1904

Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

No	34
Date of Notice	12 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Smith	Rose Wright
	💍 1904/6990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	At the house of W. Samuel Wright, Jackson's, Lyttelton
Folio	04/4653
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Methodist

28 September 1904

Donald Lachlan McLean
Elizabeth Hunter

Donald Lachlan McLean
Elizabeth Hunter
💍 1904/6478

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

23
26

Church Bay
Church Bay

2 months
26 years

At the house of W. Arthur Hunter, Church Bay

04/6496

28 September 1904

Rev. Neil McCallum, Presbyterian

No	35
Date of Notice	28 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Lachlan McLean	Elizabeth Hunter
	💍 1904/6478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Church Bay	Church Bay
Length of Residence	2 months	26 years
Marriage Place	At the house of W. Arthur Hunter, Church Bay
Folio	04/6496
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Neil McCallum, Presbyterian

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).