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 272

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar J. C. Williams

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

12 February 1904

Herbert Guilford Collins
Barbara Easton

Herbert Milford Collins
Barbara Easton
💍 1904/6951

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Housewife

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
20 years

Hours of Easter

04/1130

12 February 1904

Rev. R. Erskine, Presbyterian

No	72
Date of Notice	12 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Guilford Collins	Barbara Easton
BDM Match (96%)	Herbert Milford Collins	Barbara Easton
	💍 1904/6951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Housewife
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Hours of Easter
Folio	04/1130
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erskine, Presbyterian

12 February 1904

Henry Albert Nicholas
Annie Stephensay Caples

Henry Albert Nicholls
Annie Stephenson Capill
💍 1904/102

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder

21
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
5 years

St. John's, Christchurch

04/1054

Alexander Caples, father

12 February 1904

Rev. R. A. Goodhope, Anglican

No	73
Date of Notice	12 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Albert Nicholas	Annie Stephensay Caples
BDM Match (87%)	Henry Albert Nicholls	Annie Stephenson Capill
	💍 1904/102
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	5 years
Marriage Place	St. John's, Christchurch
Folio	04/1054
Consent	Alexander Caples, father
Date of Certificate	12 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Goodhope, Anglican

13 February 1904

Edwin Thomas Berry
Muriel Gloustein

Edwin Thomas Berry
Mary Gluestein
💍 1904/80

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

04/1032

13 February 1904

Registrar, Christchurch

No	74
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Thomas Berry	Muriel Gloustein
BDM Match (81%)	Edwin Thomas Berry	Mary Gluestein
	💍 1904/80
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	04/1032
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

13 February 1904

Henry Leslie
Agnes Dixon More

Henry Leslie
Agnes Dixon More
💍 1904/176

Bachelor
Widow

Builder

55
45

Upper Riccarton
Fendalton

46 years
2 years

House of R. Mortlock, Fendalton

04/1118

13 February 1904

Rev. R. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	75
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Leslie	Agnes Dixon More
	💍 1904/176
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Builder
Age	55	45
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	46 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of R. Mortlock, Fendalton
Folio	04/1118
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

13 February 1904

Frederick Ernest Fox
Selina Mary Bowes

Frederick Ernest Fox
Selina Mary Bowes
💍 1904/161

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
3 years

St. Michael's, Christchurch

04/1089

13 February 1904

Archdeacon A. W. Averill, Anglican

No	76
Date of Notice	13 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ernest Fox	Selina Mary Bowes
	💍 1904/161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's, Christchurch
Folio	04/1089
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon A. W. Averill, Anglican

16 February 1904

Thomas Francis Słowy
Mary Lally

Thomas Francis Slowey
Mary Lolly
💍 1904/197

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

33
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 days

Pro-Cathedral, Christchurch

04/1157

16 February 1904

Rev. J. J. O'Connell, Roman Catholic

No	77
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Słowy	Mary Lally
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Francis Slowey	Mary Lolly
	💍 1904/197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Pro-Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	04/1157
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Connell, Roman Catholic

16 February 1904

David Wood
Constance May Rimmer

David Wood
Constance May Money
💍 1904/88

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
19 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

04/1033

Charles Frederick Rimmer, father

16 February 1904

Registrar, Christchurch

No	78
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Wood	Constance May Rimmer
BDM Match (88%)	David Wood	Constance May Money
	💍 1904/88
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	04/1033
Consent	Charles Frederick Rimmer, father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

16 February 1904

John Marshall
Mary Anne

John Marshall
Mary Anne Tyson
💍 1904/183

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic

27
23

Linwood
Belfast

3 months
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Belfast

04/1144

16 February 1904

Rev. R. Plokson, Presbyterian

No	79
Date of Notice	16 February 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Marshall	Mary Anne
BDM Match (80%)	John Marshall	Mary Anne Tyson
	💍 1904/183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Belfast
Folio	04/1144
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Plokson, Presbyterian

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).