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 1081

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar William Russell

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

257

4 January 1904

Joseph Reid
Mary Rodgers

Joseph Reid
Mary Rodgers
💍 1904/441

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

28
28

Lime Hills
Lime Hills

3 days
28 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Winton

04/1305

4 January 1904

William Russell Registrar

No	257
Date of Notice	4 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Reid	Mary Rodgers
	💍 1904/441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Lime Hills	Lime Hills
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Winton
Folio	04/1305
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1904
Officiating Minister	William Russell Registrar

258

23 January 1904

John Plunkett
Jane Blackie Duncan

John Plunkett
Jane Blockie Duncan
💍 1904/663

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
21

South Hillend
South Hillend

24 years
3 years

Residence of Mr William Duncan South Hillend

04/1563

23 January 1904

J C McWilliam (Depy) Rev. J N Boys Wesleyan

No	258
Date of Notice	23 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Plunkett	Jane Blackie Duncan
BDM Match (97%)	John Plunkett	Jane Blockie Duncan
	💍 1904/663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	South Hillend
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr William Duncan South Hillend
Folio	04/1563
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1904
Officiating Minister	J C McWilliam (Depy) Rev. J N Boys Wesleyan

259

28 January 1904

Andrew Panton Cowie
Mary Jane Andrews

Andrew Panton Cowie
Mary Jane Andrews
💍 1904/664

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
20

Otapiri
Winton

27 years
20 years

House of Mrs Margaret Andrews Winton

04/1564

Margaret Andrews mother

28 January 1904

Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

No	259
Date of Notice	28 January 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Panton Cowie	Mary Jane Andrews
	💍 1904/664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Otapiri	Winton
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Margaret Andrews Winton
Folio	04/1564
Consent	Margaret Andrews mother
Date of Certificate	28 January 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

260

27 February 1904

Frank Cowie
Jeanie Lindsay

Frank Cowie
Jeanie Lindsay
💍 1904/665

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer

25
22

Winton
Winton

25 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church Winton

04/1565

27 February 1904

Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

No	260
Date of Notice	27 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Cowie	Jeanie Lindsay
	💍 1904/665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Winton
Folio	04/1565
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

261

11 March 1904

Alexander Diack
Elizabeth Mattews

Alexander Diack
Elizabeth Mathews
💍 1904/662

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmiller Labourer

24
18

Centre Bush
Benmore

16 years
10 years

House of Edward Thomas Mattews Benmore

04/1562

Edward T. Mattews Father

11 March 1904

Rev. J. T. Burrows Presbyterian

No	261
Date of Notice	11 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Diack	Elizabeth Mattews
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Diack	Elizabeth Mathews
	💍 1904/662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmiller Labourer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	Benmore
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Edward Thomas Mattews Benmore
Folio	04/1562
Consent	Edward T. Mattews Father
Date of Certificate	11 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Burrows Presbyterian

262

21 March 1904

James Watson
Bessie Morrison Taylor

James Watson
Bessie Morrison Taylor
💍 1904/666

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Limehills
Centre Bush

23 years
9 months

House of David Taylor Centre Bush

04/1566

21 March 1904

Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

No	262
Date of Notice	21 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watson	Bessie Morrison Taylor
	💍 1904/666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Limehills	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	23 years	9 months
Marriage Place	House of David Taylor Centre Bush
Folio	04/1566
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B.A. Presbyterian

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).