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 248

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1904 Registrar I. William Winsbury White

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

1421

4 March 1904

Peter George Hutchell Gourdie
Annie Vessey

Peter George Mitchell Gourdie
Annie Vessey
💍 1904/64

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Home duties

24
22

Ashburton
Tinwald

24 years
3 years at Tinwald

George Vessey's Private house

04/1017

4 March 1904

Rev. G. B. Hughes

No	1421
Date of Notice	4 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter George Hutchell Gourdie	Annie Vessey
BDM Match (97%)	Peter George Mitchell Gourdie	Annie Vessey
	💍 1904/64
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Home duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years at Tinwald
Marriage Place	George Vessey's Private house
Folio	04/1017
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Hughes

1422

4 March 1904

William Henry Marvin
Ada Catherine Mary Ann Freer Weston

William Henry Marvin
Ada Catherine Mary Ann Frees Weston
💍 1904/777

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Home duties

25
19

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 months
3 months

Church of England, Ashburton

04/1658

Ada Sarah Dolman, Aunt

7 March 1904

Rev. Edwin Whitehouse

No	1422
Date of Notice	4 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Marvin	Ada Catherine Mary Ann Freer Weston
BDM Match (99%)	William Henry Marvin	Ada Catherine Mary Ann Frees Weston
	💍 1904/777
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Home duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	04/1658
Consent	Ada Sarah Dolman, Aunt
Date of Certificate	7 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edwin Whitehouse

1423

12 March 1904

James Barton Osborne
Ellen Elizabeth Broker

James Barton Osborne
Ellen Elizabeth Broker
💍 1904/85

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

25
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
23 years

Registrar's Office

04/1014

12 March 1904

W. Winsbury White, Registrar

No	1423
Date of Notice	12 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Barton Osborne	Ellen Elizabeth Broker
	💍 1904/85
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	04/1014
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1904
Officiating Minister	W. Winsbury White, Registrar

1424

12 March 1904

John Shearer
Ellen Mary Donaldson

John Shearer
Ellen Mary Donaldson
💍 1904/66

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
19

Wheatston
Waterton

25 years
19 years at Waterton

At the house of Hugh Donaldson

04/1019

Hugh Donaldson, father

12 March 1904

Rev. Jas. Crawford Paterson, M.A.

No	1424
Date of Notice	12 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shearer	Ellen Mary Donaldson
	💍 1904/66
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Wheatston	Waterton
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years at Waterton
Marriage Place	At the house of Hugh Donaldson
Folio	04/1019
Consent	Hugh Donaldson, father
Date of Certificate	12 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Crawford Paterson, M.A.

1425

15 March 1904

Alfred John Meade
Kate Dineen

Alfred John Meade
Kate Dineen
💍 1904/5192

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter
Domestic duties

24
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

17 Months
15 years

At the Catholic Presbytery, Burnett Street, Ashburton

04/4503

15 March 1904

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

No	1425
Date of Notice	15 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Meade	Kate Dineen
	💍 1904/5192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	17 Months	15 years
Marriage Place	At the Catholic Presbytery, Burnett Street, Ashburton
Folio	04/4503
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

1426

19 March 1904

Herbert de Carrio Gresham
Florence Nina Henderson

Herbert De Garris Gresham
Florence Nina Henderson
💍 1904/2876

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic duties

29
29

Ashburton
Invercargill

23 Months
29 years

At the house of Mrs. Clara Jane Henderson, Clyde Street, Invercargill

04/3436

19 March 1904

Reverend Robert Ferguson, Invercargill

No	1426
Date of Notice	19 March 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert de Carrio Gresham	Florence Nina Henderson
BDM Match (94%)	Herbert De Garris Gresham	Florence Nina Henderson
	💍 1904/2876
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 Months	29 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mrs. Clara Jane Henderson, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	04/3436
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1904
Officiating Minister	Reverend Robert Ferguson, Invercargill

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).