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 854

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

167

6 December 1904

Robert Lawson
Mary Elizabeth Field

Robert Lawson
Mary Elizabeth Field
💍 1904/4648

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

27
22

Okohea, Invercargill
Okohea, Invercargill

27 years
12 years

In the house of Joseph Field, Okohea

04/6780

6 December 1904

Rev. T. Gray

No	167
Date of Notice	6 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lawson	Mary Elizabeth Field
	💍 1904/4648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Okohea, Invercargill	Okohea, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Joseph Field, Okohea
Folio	04/6780
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Gray

168

9 December 1904

William August Johnson
Mary Jane Cunson

William August Johnson
Mary Jane Eunson
💍 1904/4651

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

21
18

Hoodhead, Invercargill
Hoodhead, Invercargill

21 years
18 years

Presbyterian Church Manse

04/6783

Jeremiah Cunson, father

9 December 1904

Rev. T. Dunlop

No	168
Date of Notice	9 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William August Johnson	Mary Jane Cunson
BDM Match (97%)	William August Johnson	Mary Jane Eunson
	💍 1904/4651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Hoodhead, Invercargill	Hoodhead, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Manse
Folio	04/6783
Consent	Jeremiah Cunson, father
Date of Certificate	9 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Dunlop

169

10 December 1904

Peter Blakie Jr.
Henrietta Nina Ross Macdonald

Peter Blakie Junr
Henrietta Nina Ross Macdonald
💍 1904/4656

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
22

Ryal Bush
Ryal Bush

29 years
22 years

In the house of Macdonald, Trinity Farm

04/6788

10 December 1904

Rev. T. T. Barrow

No	169
Date of Notice	10 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Blakie Jr.	Henrietta Nina Ross Macdonald
BDM Match (91%)	Peter Blakie Junr	Henrietta Nina Ross Macdonald
	💍 1904/4656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Ryal Bush	Ryal Bush
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Macdonald, Trinity Farm
Folio	04/6788
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. T. Barrow

170

12 December 1904

Henry Edward Dillon
Agnes Theresa Grinalay

Henry Edward Dillon
Agnes Theresa Grindlay
💍 1904/4660

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

25
18

Patrick St, Invercargill
Patrick St, Invercargill

5 years
18 years

In the house of H. E. Dillon, Patrick St

04/6791

Agnes Theresa Ramsay, mother

12 December 1904

Rev. R. Rains

No	170
Date of Notice	12 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Dillon	Agnes Theresa Grinalay
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Edward Dillon	Agnes Theresa Grindlay
	💍 1904/4660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Patrick St, Invercargill	Patrick St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of H. E. Dillon, Patrick St
Folio	04/6791
Consent	Agnes Theresa Ramsay, mother
Date of Certificate	12 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Rains

171

12 December 1904

William O'Brien
Clarice May Newton

William O'Brien
Clarice May Newton
💍 1904/7198

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

21
19

Irviot St, Invercargill
Irviot St, Invercargill

2 years
18 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

04/6761

Alice Newton, mother

12 December 1904

Registrar of Marriages

No	171
Date of Notice	12 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William O'Brien	Clarice May Newton
	💍 1904/7198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Irviot St, Invercargill	Irviot St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	04/6761
Consent	Alice Newton, mother
Date of Certificate	12 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

172

14 December 1904

Richard Letcher Kaul
Isabella Peace

Richard Tetehei Hall
Isabella Peace
💍 1904/6674

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic

28
26

Clifton, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

5 years
20 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Clifton

04/6797

14 December 1904

Rev. T. A. Lyons

No	172
Date of Notice	14 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Letcher Kaul	Isabella Peace
BDM Match (88%)	Richard Tetehei Hall	Isabella Peace
	💍 1904/6674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Clifton, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Clifton
Folio	04/6797
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Lyons

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).