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 520

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar Alex Montgomery

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

16 February 1904

William Lynch
Annie Hoare

William Lynch
Annie Hoare
💍 1904/419

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

29 years
23 years

Seadown
Ferrytown

25 years
1 day

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

04/1281

16 February 1904

Rev. Charles Vance, Roman Catholic Priest

No	10
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lynch	Annie Hoare
	💍 1904/419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Seadown	Ferrytown
Length of Residence	25 years	1 day
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	04/1281
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Vance, Roman Catholic Priest

23 February 1904

Alexander Urquhart
Rosa Ellen Hillworth

Alexander Urquhart
Rosa Elsie Killworth
💍 1904/415

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

39 years
26 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
7 years

Dwellinghouse, Rev. J. Stinson, Timaru

04/1277

23 February 1904

Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	11
Date of Notice	23 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Urquhart	Rosa Ellen Hillworth
BDM Match (90%)	Alexander Urquhart	Rosa Elsie Killworth
	💍 1904/415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	39 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse, Rev. J. Stinson, Timaru
Folio	04/1277
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

1 March 1904

Eric Hardaker
Ruth Jenkins

Eri Hardaker
Ruth Jenkins
💍 1904/416

Divorced
Widow

Electrical Engineer
Domestic Duties

42 years
37 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 weeks
3 days

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

04/1278

1 March 1904

Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	12
Date of Notice	1 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Hardaker	Ruth Jenkins
BDM Match (96%)	Eri Hardaker	Ruth Jenkins
	💍 1904/416
Condition	Divorced	Widow
Profession	Electrical Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	42 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	04/1278
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

1 March 1904

Charles Maher
Janet Mach

Charles Maher
Janet Mack
💍 1904/2142

Bachelor
Widow

Farm Labourer
Farmer

27 years
38 years

Timaru
Springbrook

3 days
3 years

Dwellinghouse, Rev. J. Stinson, Timaru

04/3198

1 March 1904

Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	13
Date of Notice	1 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Maher	Janet Mach
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Maher	Janet Mack
	💍 1904/2142
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farm Labourer	Farmer
Age	27 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Springbrook
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse, Rev. J. Stinson, Timaru
Folio	04/3198
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

10 March 1904

Joseph Mansfield Homiston
Katherine Campbell Robertson Drummond

Joseph Mansfield Harmiston
Katherine Campbell Robertson Drummond
💍 1904/420

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer
Domestic Duties

21 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 weeks
3 weeks

Registrar's Office, Timaru

04/1282

10 March 1904

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	14
Date of Notice	10 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Mansfield Homiston	Katherine Campbell Robertson Drummond
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Mansfield Harmiston	Katherine Campbell Robertson Drummond
	💍 1904/420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer	Domestic Duties
Age	21 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	04/1282
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

11 March 1904

George Henderson
Elizabeth Shore

George Henderson
Elizabeth Shore
💍 1904/421

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
Domestic Duties

33 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

04/1283

11 March 1904

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	15
Date of Notice	11 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henderson	Elizabeth Shore
	💍 1904/421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	33 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	04/1283
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

19 March 1904

Thomas Michael Daly
Mary King McArthur

Thomas Michael Daly
Mary King McArthur
💍 1904/2143

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27 years
27 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
27 years

Dwellinghouse of Mr. Donald McArthur, Timaru

04/3199

19 March 1904

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	19 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Michael Daly	Mary King McArthur
	💍 1904/2143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. Donald McArthur, Timaru
Folio	04/3199
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

22 March 1904

Henry Charles Matthews
Agnes Mary Scott

Henry Charles Matthews
Agnes Mary Scott
💍 1904/434

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

25 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

8 years
9 years

Dwellinghouse of James Scott, North Street, Timaru

04/1872

22 March 1904

Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	17
Date of Notice	22 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Matthews	Agnes Mary Scott
	💍 1904/434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	8 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of James Scott, North Street, Timaru
Folio	04/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

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).