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 851

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

149

25 October 1904

Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle
Alice Stewart Nair

Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle
Alice Stewart Mair
💍 1904/4655

Bachelor
Spinster

Veterinary Surgeon
Domestic

31
22

Invercargill, Don St.
Invercargill

5 years
22 years

Residence of Alexander Blair, Don St.

04/6787

25 October 1904

Rev. S. Prior

No	149
Date of Notice	25 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle	Alice Stewart Nair
BDM Match (97%)	Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle	Alice Stewart Mair
	💍 1904/4655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Veterinary Surgeon	Domestic
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Don St.	Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Blair, Don St.
Folio	04/6787
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Prior

150

26 October 1904

George Edward Garth
Margaret Ethel Gutsell

George Edward Garth
Margaret Ethel Gutsell
💍 1904/7197

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
16

North Invercargill, Ann St.
North Invercargill

3 months
16 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

04/6760

George John Gutsell, father

26 October 1904

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	150
Date of Notice	26 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Garth	Margaret Ethel Gutsell
	💍 1904/7197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	16
Dwelling Place	North Invercargill, Ann St.	North Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	04/6760
Consent	George John Gutsell, father
Date of Certificate	26 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

151

28 October 1904

Edward Moreton
Catherine Hewitt

Edward Moreton
Catherine Hewitt
💍 1904/7206

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmill-hand
Domestic

29
26

Invercargill
Invercargill

5 years
5 years

Church of England, Gladstone

04/6768

28 October 1904

Rev. Swinburn

No	151
Date of Notice	28 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Moreton	Catherine Hewitt
	💍 1904/7206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmill-hand	Domestic
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gladstone
Folio	04/6768
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Swinburn

152

31 October 1904

William Henderson
Janet Isabel Rodger

William Henderson
Janet Isabel Rudger
💍 1904/6821

William Henderson
Frances Annie Hewitt
💍 1904/5416

William Henderson
Agnes Scott
💍 1904/3917

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
25

Ratanui
Wrights Bush

5 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church Manse, Ratanui

04/6969

31 October 1904

Rev. R. Catterwood

No	152
Date of Notice	31 October 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henderson	Janet Isabel Rodger
BDM Match (97%)	William Henderson	Janet Isabel Rudger
	💍 1904/6821
BDM Match (63%)	William Henderson	Frances Annie Hewitt
	💍 1904/5416
BDM Match (61%)	William Henderson	Agnes Scott
	💍 1904/3917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Ratanui	Wrights Bush
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Manse, Ratanui
Folio	04/6969
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Catterwood

153

2 December 1904

Henry Harold Marchant
Euphemia Heatley

Henry Harold Marchant
Euphemia Heatley
💍 1904/6679

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner
Domestic

32
24

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
20 years

Church of Christ, Bowmont St., Oamaru

04/6802

2 December 1904

H. J. Elcorn

No	153
Date of Notice	2 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Harold Marchant	Euphemia Heatley
	💍 1904/6679
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner	Domestic
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Bowmont St., Oamaru
Folio	04/6802
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1904
Officiating Minister	H. J. Elcorn

154

3 December 1904

Andrew Raeside
Sarah Campbell

Andrew Raeside
Sarah Campbell
💍 1904/4649

Andrew O'Brien
Jane Campbell
💍 1904/5402

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry-cook
Domestic

23
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

22 years
2 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

04/6781

3 December 1904

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	154
Date of Notice	3 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Raeside	Sarah Campbell
	💍 1904/4649
BDM Match (64%)	Andrew O'Brien	Jane Campbell
	💍 1904/5402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry-cook	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church
Folio	04/6781
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

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).