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 642

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1880

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

30 January 1880

Joseph Lance Cantsbery
Annie Moore

Joseph Lance Lautsbery
Annie Moore
💍 1904/772

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

25 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 months
8 months

In the House of Mr. Andrew Nelson, Lothian Road, Maori Hill

04/1676

30 January 1880

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	37
Date of Notice	30 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Lance Cantsbery	Annie Moore
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Lance Lautsbery	Annie Moore
	💍 1904/772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 months	8 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Andrew Nelson, Lothian Road, Maori Hill
Folio	04/1676
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1880
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

30 January 1880

Edwin John Jones
Elizabeth Pressly

Edwin John Jones
Elizabeth Pressly
💍 1904/766

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Shop Assistant

25 years
27 years

Dunedin
Anderson's Bay

15 months
6 years

In the House of Mr. John Hay Pressly, Anderson's Bay

04/1671

30 January 1880

A. Cameron

No	38
Date of Notice	30 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Jones	Elizabeth Pressly
	💍 1904/766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Shop Assistant
Age	25 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	15 months	6 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. John Hay Pressly, Anderson's Bay
Folio	04/1671
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1880
Officiating Minister	A. Cameron

30 January 1880

Ward George Wohlmann
Jane Cuthill Aitchison

Ward George Wohlmann
Jane Cathill Aitchison
💍 1904/514

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Clerk

31 years
34 years

St. Kilda
Dunedin

4 days
13 years

In the House of Mr. E. C. Aitchison, 20 Moray Place, Dunedin

04/1379

30 January 1880

Jas. Chisholm

No	39
Date of Notice	30 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ward George Wohlmann	Jane Cuthill Aitchison
BDM Match (98%)	Ward George Wohlmann	Jane Cathill Aitchison
	💍 1904/514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Clerk
Age	31 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	13 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. E. C. Aitchison, 20 Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	04/1379
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Jas. Chisholm

30 January 1880

James Frederick Sellars
Emma Helen Williams

James Frederick Sellars
Emma Helen Williams
💍 1904/494

Bachelor
Spinster

Dyer

42 years
39 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 years
3 years

All Saints Church, Dunedin

04/1358

30 January 1880

A. R. Fitchett

No	40
Date of Notice	30 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frederick Sellars	Emma Helen Williams
	💍 1904/494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dyer
Age	42 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Dunedin
Folio	04/1358
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1880
Officiating Minister	A. R. Fitchett

1 February 1880

Thomas Flynn
Mary Ann Pearson Skinner

Thomas Flynn
Mary Ann Pearson Skinner
💍 1904/1832

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Laundress

38 years
32 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
8 years

In the Manse, Knox Church, Dunedin

04/1359

1 February 1880

Wm. Hewitson

No	41
Date of Notice	1 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Flynn	Mary Ann Pearson Skinner
	💍 1904/1832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Laundress
Age	38 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the Manse, Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	04/1359
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

2 February 1880

William Strachon
Janet Florence Pickard

William Strachan
Janet Florence Pickard
💍 1904/542

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

30 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
25 years

In the Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin

04/1431

2 February 1880

Jas. Guy

No	42
Date of Notice	2 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Strachon	Janet Florence Pickard
BDM Match (97%)	William Strachan	Janet Florence Pickard
	💍 1904/542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	30 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	04/1431
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Jas. Guy

2 February 1880

John Fleming
Charlotte Elizabeth Moody

John Fleming
Charlotte Elizabeth Moody
💍 1904/469

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29 years
28 years

Dunedin
Mornington

2 years
28 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

04/1333

2 February 1880

H. Macaswell

No	43
Date of Notice	2 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fleming	Charlotte Elizabeth Moody
	💍 1904/469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	04/1333
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1880
Officiating Minister	H. Macaswell

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).