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 850

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar John Ernest Taylor

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

143

6 October 1904

Ernest Edward Pennington
Grace Ann Bath

Ernest Edward Pennington
Grace Ann Bath
💍 1904/6677

Widower
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

32
28

Yarrow St., Invercargill
Yarrow St., Invercargill

4 years
28 years

Baptist Church, E & K St.

04/6800

6 October 1904

Rev. John Overheed

No	143
Date of Notice	6 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Edward Pennington	Grace Ann Bath
	💍 1904/6677
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Yarrow St., Invercargill	Yarrow St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, E & K St.
Folio	04/6800
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Overheed

144

7 October 1904

George Martin Johansen
Katie Brynhart

George Martin Johansen
Katie Urquhart
💍 1904/7196

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

25
19

Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

2 weeks
4 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

04/6759

Robert Brynhart, father

7 October 1904

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	144
Date of Notice	7 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Martin Johansen	Katie Brynhart
BDM Match (89%)	George Martin Johansen	Katie Urquhart
	💍 1904/7196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	04/6759
Consent	Robert Brynhart, father
Date of Certificate	7 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

145

13 October 1904

George Dimms
Elizabeth Dewe

George Simms
Elizabeth Dewe
💍 1904/6658

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

23
24

Seaward Bush, Invercargill
Seaward Bush, Invercargill

4 days
17 years

Residence of Frederick Thomas, Tramway Road

04/6795

13 October 1904

Rev. J. A. Pybas

No	145
Date of Notice	13 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dimms	Elizabeth Dewe
BDM Match (96%)	George Simms	Elizabeth Dewe
	💍 1904/6658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Seaward Bush, Invercargill	Seaward Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick Thomas, Tramway Road
Folio	04/6795
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybas

146

13 October 1904

Erroll Wright
Johan McDonald

Erroll Wright
Johan McDonald
💍 1904/6678

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

27
26

Don St., Invercargill
Mabel Bush, Invercargill

10 years
26 years

Residence of John McDonald, Mabel Bush

04/6801

13 October 1904

Rev. E. Bissett

No	146
Date of Notice	13 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Erroll Wright	Johan McDonald
	💍 1904/6678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Don St., Invercargill	Mabel Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John McDonald, Mabel Bush
Folio	04/6801
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bissett

147

17 October 1904

William Andrew Hericks
Nelly Johnson

William Andrew Hicks
Nelly Johnson
💍 1904/7207

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

23
19

Don St., Invercargill
Don St., Invercargill

4 days
4 days

English Church, Gladstone

04/6769

Edward Johnson, father

17 October 1904

Rev. H. Durnburne

No	147
Date of Notice	17 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Andrew Hericks	Nelly Johnson
BDM Match (95%)	William Andrew Hicks	Nelly Johnson
	💍 1904/7207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Don St., Invercargill	Don St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone
Folio	04/6769
Consent	Edward Johnson, father
Date of Certificate	17 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Durnburne

148

18 October 1904

John Burke
Elizabeth Delwood

John Burke
Elizabeth Selwood
💍 1904/4653

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

31
25

Don St., Invercargill
Tyne St., Invercargill

3 days
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Clyde St.

04/6785

18 October 1904

Rev. John Lynch

No	148
Date of Notice	18 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burke	Elizabeth Delwood
BDM Match (97%)	John Burke	Elizabeth Selwood
	💍 1904/4653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Don St., Invercargill	Tyne St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Clyde St.
Folio	04/6785
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Lynch

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).