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 760

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 30 June 1904 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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

4 April 1904

Joseph Schriffer
Margaret Kiely

Joseph Schriffer
Margaret Kiely
💍 1904/5473

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

25
23

Mosgiel, Otago
Wingatui, Otago

3 Days
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago

04/4899

4 April 1904

Rev. Michael Ryan

No	5
Date of Notice	4 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Schriffer	Margaret Kiely
	💍 1904/5473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Wingatui, Otago
Length of Residence	3 Days	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago
Folio	04/4899
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Michael Ryan

12 April 1904

Aubrey Campbell McIntyre
Maggie Lawson Tuckey

Aubrey Campbell McIntyre
Maggie Lawson Tuckey
💍 1904/2465

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

21
21

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 years
11 Days

Presbyterian Church, North Taieri, Otago

04/3571

12 April 1904

Rev. L. Thompson, North Taieri

No	6
Date of Notice	12 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Aubrey Campbell McIntyre	Maggie Lawson Tuckey
	💍 1904/2465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 years	11 Days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, North Taieri, Otago
Folio	04/3571
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Thompson, North Taieri

2 May 1904

Henry Fowler Christie
Celina Brockett

Henry Fowler Christie
Celina Brockett
💍 1904/5586

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic

22
24

Allanton, Otago
Allanton, Otago

20 years
20 years

In the house of Daniel Brockett, Allanton, Otago

04/5760

2 May 1904

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	7
Date of Notice	2 May 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Fowler Christie	Celina Brockett
	💍 1904/5586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Allanton, Otago	Allanton, Otago
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Daniel Brockett, Allanton, Otago
Folio	04/5760
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

24 June 1904

Thomas Harrison Law
Mary Stewart Harris

Thomas Harrison Law
Mary Stewart Harris
💍 1904/7161

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

21
21

East Taieri, Otago
Saddle Hill, Otago

21 years
21 years

In the house of Adam Harris, Saddle Hill, Otago

04/3411

24 June 1904

Rev. A. Hopkin, Mosgiel

No	8
Date of Notice	24 June 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harrison Law	Mary Stewart Harris
	💍 1904/7161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	East Taieri, Otago	Saddle Hill, Otago
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Adam Harris, Saddle Hill, Otago
Folio	04/3411
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hopkin, Mosgiel

24 June 1904

Robert Barron
Ellen O'Brien

Robert Barron
Ellen O'Brien
💍 1904/5474

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

35
28

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel Junction, Otago

1 year
1 year

In the house of Mr. Bridget O'Brien, Mosgiel Junction, Otago

04/4900

24 June 1904

Rev. Michael Ryan

No	9
Date of Notice	24 June 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Barron	Ellen O'Brien
	💍 1904/5474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel Junction, Otago
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Bridget O'Brien, Mosgiel Junction, Otago
Folio	04/4900
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Michael Ryan

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).