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 500

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar J. G. Shanks

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

6 December 1904

George Edwards Jun.
Elizabeth May Feetham Brown

George Edwards
Elizabeth May Feltham Brown
💍 1904/6761

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
24

Kaiapoi
Rangiora

30 years
7 years

Church of England, Rangiora

04/6929

J. P. Hendall

7 December 1904

J. P. Hendall

No	53
Date of Notice	6 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edwards Jun.	Elizabeth May Feetham Brown
BDM Match (85%)	George Edwards	Elizabeth May Feltham Brown
	💍 1904/6761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Rangiora
Length of Residence	30 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rangiora
Folio	04/6929
Consent	J. P. Hendall
Date of Certificate	7 December 1904
Officiating Minister	J. P. Hendall

13 December 1904

George Jackson
Emily Jane Sansom

George Jackson
Emily Jane Sansom
💍 1904/6444

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

39
46

Fernside
Rangiora

39 years
46 years

Methodist Church, Rangiora

04/6443

A. H. Thaler, Registrar

13 December 1904

A. H. Thaler, Registrar

No	54
Date of Notice	13 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jackson	Emily Jane Sansom
	💍 1904/6444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	39	46
Dwelling Place	Fernside	Rangiora
Length of Residence	39 years	46 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Rangiora
Folio	04/6443
Consent	A. H. Thaler, Registrar
Date of Certificate	13 December 1904
Officiating Minister	A. H. Thaler, Registrar

19 December 1904

George Searles Jordan
Alice Mandlies

George Searies Jordan
Alice Maud Miles
💍 1904/7013

Widower
Spinster

Baker
Household duties

30
23

Rangiora
Rangiora

29 years
23 years

In private residence, Rangiora

04/6453

J. G. Shanks, Registrar

19 December 1904

J. G. Shanks, Registrar

No	55
Date of Notice	19 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Searles Jordan	Alice Mandlies
BDM Match (85%)	George Searies Jordan	Alice Maud Miles
	💍 1904/7013
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Household duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In private residence, Rangiora
Folio	04/6453
Consent	J. G. Shanks, Registrar
Date of Certificate	19 December 1904
Officiating Minister	J. G. Shanks, Registrar

24 December 1904

John William Mathers
Catherine Armstrong

John William Mathers
Catherine Armstrong
💍 1904/6445

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

38
33

Saltwater Creek
Loburn

32 years
33 years

Church of England, Loburn

04/6444

K. E. Earl

24 December 1904

K. E. Earl

No	56
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Mathers	Catherine Armstrong
	💍 1904/6445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Saltwater Creek	Loburn
Length of Residence	32 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Loburn
Folio	04/6444
Consent	K. E. Earl
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	K. E. Earl

24 December 1904

Arthur Robert Carter
Blanche Frances May Gulliver

Arthur Robert Carter
Blanch Frances May Gulliver
💍 1904/6763

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Engineer
Domestic duties

25
20

Rangiora
Rangiora

25 years
20 years

Church of England, Rangiora

04/6930

Frederick Gulliver, father

24 December 1904

J. P. Tendall

No	57
Date of Notice	24 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Robert Carter	Blanche Frances May Gulliver
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Robert Carter	Blanch Frances May Gulliver
	💍 1904/6763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rangiora
Folio	04/6930
Consent	Frederick Gulliver, father
Date of Certificate	24 December 1904
Officiating Minister	J. P. Tendall

28 December 1904

Edward Simpson
Rebecca Humes

Edward Simpson
Rebecca Nelmes
💍 1904/6432

Bachelor
Spinster

Metal Salesman
Dressmaker

29
22

Christchurch
Rangiora

6 years
10 years

Methodist Church, Rangiora

04/6446

J. G. Shanks, Registrar

28 December 1904

J. G. Shanks, Registrar

No	58
Date of Notice	28 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Simpson	Rebecca Humes
BDM Match (89%)	Edward Simpson	Rebecca Nelmes
	💍 1904/6432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Metal Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rangiora
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Rangiora
Folio	04/6446
Consent	J. G. Shanks, Registrar
Date of Certificate	28 December 1904
Officiating Minister	J. G. Shanks, Registrar

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 1908. 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).