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 189

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1904 Registrar Harper

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

22 November 1904

Denis Hannan
Irene Beresford Spurr

Denis Hannan
Irene Beresford
💍 1904/6914

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

29
24

Wellington
Greymouth

14 days
2 1/2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

04/6166

22 November 1904

Rev. J. S. Herbert

No	48
Date of Notice	22 November 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Hannan	Irene Beresford Spurr
BDM Match (86%)	Denis Hannan	Irene Beresford
	💍 1904/6914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Greymouth
Length of Residence	14 days	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	04/6166
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Herbert

20 December 1904

John Francis Fleming
Isabella Clark

John Frances Fleming
Isabella Clark
💍 1904/4339

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

31
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

14 days
14 days

The Methodist Church, Greymouth

04/6160

Edward Clark, Father

20 December 1904

Rev. Thos. Trustram

No	49
Date of Notice	20 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Fleming	Isabella Clark
BDM Match (98%)	John Frances Fleming	Isabella Clark
	💍 1904/4339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	14 days	14 days
Marriage Place	The Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	04/6160
Consent	Edward Clark, Father
Date of Certificate	20 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Trustram

21 December 1904

John William Logan
Annie Theresa Anderson

John William Logan
Annie Theresa Anderson
💍 1904/4337

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

26
26

Dunedin
Moana

10 years
18 months

Private residence of Donis Anderson, High Street, Greymouth

04/6158

21 December 1904

Rev. Robt. Stewart

No	50
Date of Notice	21 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Logan	Annie Theresa Anderson
	💍 1904/4337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Moana
Length of Residence	10 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Donis Anderson, High Street, Greymouth
Folio	04/6158
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Stewart

22 December 1904

Arthur John Wickes
Emily Caroline Ziegler

Arthur John Wickes
Emily Caroline Ziegler
💍 1904/4336

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher

28
20

Blackball
Greymouth

3 days
7 years

The private residence of Mrs. F. Ziegler, Damin Street, Greymouth

04/6157

Frederica Dorothy Ziegler, Mother, the father being dead.

22 December 1904

Rev. Robt. Stewart

No	51
Date of Notice	22 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Wickes	Emily Caroline Ziegler
	💍 1904/4336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mrs. F. Ziegler, Damin Street, Greymouth
Folio	04/6157
Consent	Frederica Dorothy Ziegler, Mother, the father being dead.
Date of Certificate	22 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Stewart

27 December 1904

William Samuel Edgar
Edith May Stephens

William Samuel Edgar
Edith May Stephens
💍 1904/4338

William Saunders
Mary Stephens
💍 1904/313

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

26
21

Reefton
Greymouth

3 days
4 years

The private residence of Mrs. Sam Stephens, Franklin Street, Greymouth

04/6159

27 December 1904

Rev. Robt. Stewart

No	52
Date of Notice	27 December 1904
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Samuel Edgar	Edith May Stephens
	💍 1904/4338
BDM Match (61%)	William Saunders	Mary Stephens
	💍 1904/313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mrs. Sam Stephens, Franklin Street, Greymouth
Folio	04/6159
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 December 1904
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Stewart

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).