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 981

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1904 Registrar R. Makerson

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

6 April 1904

George Robert Boivin
Lettisher Margaret Jane Bates

George Robert Bowin
Lettisher Margaret Jane Bates
💍 1904/2406

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

21
21

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

House of Mr. Thomas Bates, Scotia Street, Port Chalmers

04/3527

6 April 1904

Rev. Edward Taylor

No	4
Date of Notice	6 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Boivin	Lettisher Margaret Jane Bates
BDM Match (95%)	George Robert Bowin	Lettisher Margaret Jane Bates
	💍 1904/2406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Thomas Bates, Scotia Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	04/3527
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Taylor

6 April 1904

George William Taylor
Elizabeth Duke Way

George William Hill
Elizabeth Johnston
💍 1905/6342

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Tailoress

27
25

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
25 years

Residence of Mr. Thomas Way, Hansford Town, Port Chalmers

"X See letters"

6 April 1904

Rev. Edward Taylor

No	5
Date of Notice	6 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Taylor	Elizabeth Duke Way
BDM Match (66%)	George William Hill	Elizabeth Johnston
	💍 1905/6342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Tailoress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Thomas Way, Hansford Town, Port Chalmers
Folio
Consent	"X See letters"
Date of Certificate	6 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Taylor

9 April 1904

Donald Macdonald
Agnes Anderson

Donald Macdonald
Agnes Anderson
💍 1904/2411

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

33
28

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

31 years
28 years

House of Mr. William Clark, Port Chalmers

04/3531

9 April 1904

Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

No	6
Date of Notice	9 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Macdonald	Agnes Anderson
	💍 1904/2411
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	31 years	28 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. William Clark, Port Chalmers
Folio	04/3531
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

12 April 1904

Hall Alfred Olsen
Robina Constance Logie

Kall Alfred Olsen
Robina Constance Logie
💍 1904/2412

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

25
26

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

House of Mr. Frederick Logie, Main Road from Port Chalmers to Dunedin

04/3532

12 April 1904

Rev. Christopher Aker

No	7
Date of Notice	12 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hall Alfred Olsen	Robina Constance Logie
BDM Match (97%)	Kall Alfred Olsen	Robina Constance Logie
	💍 1904/2412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Frederick Logie, Main Road from Port Chalmers to Dunedin
Folio	04/3532
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Christopher Aker

12 April 1904

Alfred Henry Haish
Marjory Jago Bud Prezise

Alfred Henry Naish
Marjory Jago Bice Trezise
💍 1904/2408

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic duties

28
35

Port Chalmers, Purakanui
Port Chalmers, Purakanui

3 days
1 year

House of Mr. James Prezise, Purakanui

04/3529

12 April 1904

Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

No	8
Date of Notice	12 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Haish	Marjory Jago Bud Prezise
BDM Match (89%)	Alfred Henry Naish	Marjory Jago Bice Trezise
	💍 1904/2408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic duties
Age	28	35
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers, Purakanui	Port Chalmers, Purakanui
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Mr. James Prezise, Purakanui
Folio	04/3529
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

20 April 1904

William Hay the younger
Ann Davidson Robertson

William Hay
Anna Davidson Robertson
💍 1904/2410

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
22

Mihuwaka
Mihuwaka

19 years
3 days

House of Mr. John Holland, Mihuwaka

04/3530

20 April 1904

Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

No	9
Date of Notice	20 April 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hay the younger	Ann Davidson Robertson
BDM Match (72%)	William Hay	Anna Davidson Robertson
	💍 1904/2410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Mihuwaka	Mihuwaka
Length of Residence	19 years	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Holland, Mihuwaka
Folio	04/3530
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Cowper Tennent

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).