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 646

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1904

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

17 February 1904

Adam Ritchie
Allison Lillie Nelson

Adam Ritchie
Allison Lillie Wilson
💍 1904/525

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
20

Burnside
Caversham

12 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. David Wilson, David Street, Caversham

04/1375

David Wilson, father

17 February 1904

A.V.C. Chandler

No	65
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Ritchie	Allison Lillie Nelson
BDM Match (95%)	Adam Ritchie	Allison Lillie Wilson
	💍 1904/525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Burnside	Caversham
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. David Wilson, David Street, Caversham
Folio	04/1375
Consent	David Wilson, father
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	A.V.C. Chandler

17 February 1904

Charles Hitchcox
Alice Moran Davis

Charles Hitchcock
Alice Moran Davis
💍 1904/518

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

27
23

Dunedin
Sandymount

9 months
23 years

In the house of Mr. Michael Davis, Sandymount

04/1383

17 February 1904

Alex. Greig

No	66
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hitchcox	Alice Moran Davis
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Hitchcock	Alice Moran Davis
	💍 1904/518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Sandymount
Length of Residence	9 months	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Michael Davis, Sandymount
Folio	04/1383
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Alex. Greig

17 February 1904

John George Corson
Mary Florence Cook

John George Corson
Mary Florence Cook
💍 1904/1833

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Barmaid

28
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 weeks

In the house of Mr. William Corson, 216 Leith Street, Dunedin

04/1390

17 February 1904

Wm. Hewitson

No	67
Date of Notice	17 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Corson	Mary Florence Cook
	💍 1904/1833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Barmaid
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. William Corson, 216 Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	04/1390
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

19 February 1904

Robert Crawford
Margaret Wylie Kennedy

Robert Crawford
Margaret Wylie Kennedy
💍 1904/711

Widower
Spinster

Ironmonger

52
39

Roslyn
Roslyn

18 years
6 years

In the First Church, Dunedin

04/1611

19 February 1904

M. Matt

No	68
Date of Notice	19 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Crawford	Margaret Wylie Kennedy
	💍 1904/711
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	52	39
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	18 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	04/1611
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1904
Officiating Minister	M. Matt

22 February 1904

Arthur Dennis Mitchell
Nellie Robbins

Arthur Dennis Mitchell
Nellie Robbins
💍 1904/475

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

34
26

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

1 year
16 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

04/1338

22 February 1904

H. Maxwell

No	69
Date of Notice	22 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Dennis Mitchell	Nellie Robbins
	💍 1904/475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	16 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	04/1338
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1904
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

22 February 1904

Hugh Choo Lee
Emily Pratt

Hugh Choo Quee
Emily Pratt
💍 1904/569

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer

27
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
25 years

In the house of Mr. W. Saunders, View Street, Dunedin

04/1437

22 February 1904

Wm. Saunders

No	70
Date of Notice	22 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Choo Lee	Emily Pratt
BDM Match (93%)	Hugh Choo Quee	Emily Pratt
	💍 1904/569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. Saunders, View Street, Dunedin
Folio	04/1437
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

23 February 1904

William Gibson Hannah
Christina Morison Miller

William Gibson Hannah
Christina Morison Miller
💍 1904/1823

Bachelor
Spinster

Harness-maker
Hosier

28
34

Mornington
North East Valley

2 years
12 months

In the house of Mr. W.A. Smith, North East Valley

04/1402

23 February 1904

Wm. Georgie

No	71
Date of Notice	23 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gibson Hannah	Christina Morison Miller
	💍 1904/1823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Harness-maker	Hosier
Age	28	34
Dwelling Place	Mornington	North East Valley
Length of Residence	2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W.A. Smith, North East Valley
Folio	04/1402
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Wm. Georgie

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).