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 698

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1904 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

397

30 August 1904

Hugh O'Donnell
Sarah Traill

Hugh O'Donnell
Sarah Traill
💍 1904/5426

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

32 years
35 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

6 months
2 years

St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

04/4851

30 August 1904

Jas. Coffey

No	397
Date of Notice	30 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh O'Donnell	Sarah Traill
	💍 1904/5426
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	32 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	04/4851
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Jas. Coffey

398

31 August 1904

James Murray
Martha Dripps

James Murray
Martha Dripps
💍 1904/5381

Widower
Spinster

Surfaceman

34 years
30 years

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
3 days

In the house of Mrs. Martha A.J. Miller, Argyle Street, Mornington

04/4803

31 August 1904

Wm. Sergie

No	398
Date of Notice	31 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Murray	Martha Dripps
	💍 1904/5381
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman
Age	34 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Martha A.J. Miller, Argyle Street, Mornington
Folio	04/4803
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1904
Officiating Minister	Wm. Sergie

399

31 August 1904

George Thorncroft Palmer
Helen Lydia Findley

George Thorncrop Palmer
Helen Lydia Findley
💍 1904/5419

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

26 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
8 months

In Trinity Methodist Church, Dunedin

04/4867

31 August 1904

G.H. Laws

No	399
Date of Notice	31 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thorncroft Palmer	Helen Lydia Findley
BDM Match (96%)	George Thorncrop Palmer	Helen Lydia Findley
	💍 1904/5419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	26 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	8 months
Marriage Place	In Trinity Methodist Church, Dunedin
Folio	04/4867
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1904
Officiating Minister	G.H. Laws

400

31 August 1904

Frank Oscar Lucas
Constance Williams

Frank Oscar Lucas
Constance Williams
💍 1904/5412

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman

23 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. John Williams, 32 Dundas Street, Dunedin

04/4861

31 August 1904

W.A. Lindair

No	400
Date of Notice	31 August 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Oscar Lucas	Constance Williams
	💍 1904/5412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. John Williams, 32 Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	04/4861
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1904
Officiating Minister	W.A. Lindair

401

2 September 1904

Edward John Massey
Mary Ellen Coffey

Edward John Massey
Mary Ellen Coffey
💍 1904/4049

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder

31 years
34 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 months
2 years

In the Church of the Sacred Heart, North East Valley

04/4842

2 September 1904

P. Murphy

No	401
Date of Notice	2 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Massey	Mary Ellen Coffey
	💍 1904/4049
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder
Age	31 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of the Sacred Heart, North East Valley
Folio	04/4842
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1904
Officiating Minister	P. Murphy

402

3 September 1904

John Tully
Janet McKenzie Bain

John Tully
Janet McKenzie Bain
💍 1904/5454

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

40 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Salvation Army Barracks, Dunedin

04/4895

3 September 1904

Jabez Bridge

No	402
Date of Notice	3 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Tully	Janet McKenzie Bain
	💍 1904/5454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	40 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Salvation Army Barracks, Dunedin
Folio	04/4895
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1904
Officiating Minister	Jabez Bridge

403

3 September 1904

Carl Miller
Lucy Hayes Austin

Carl Miller
Lucy Hayes Austin
💍 1904/5361

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32 years
30 years

Tomahawk
Highcliff

32 years
6 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

04/4782

3 September 1904

H. Maxwell

No	403
Date of Notice	3 September 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Miller	Lucy Hayes Austin
	💍 1904/5361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Tomahawk	Highcliff
Length of Residence	32 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	04/4782
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1904
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).