Intentions to Marry, 1905 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840428, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 679

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar Benjamin 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

5 January 1905

George Adam Douglas
Isabella Woollett

George Adam Douglas
Isabella Woollett
💍 1905/5986

Bachelor
Spinster

Saw mill hand

21
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
2 years

The private residence of Mr. Richard Johnson, Preston Road, Greymouth

05/948

Robert Woollett, Father

3 May 1905

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Adam Douglas	Isabella Woollett
	💍 1905/5986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saw mill hand
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr. Richard Johnson, Preston Road, Greymouth
Folio	05/948
Consent	Robert Woollett, Father
Date of Certificate	3 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

25 January 1905

George Roberts
Elizabeth Howard Leach

George Roberts
Elizabeth Howard Leach
💍 1905/5987

Bachelor
Spinster

Mines
Domestic

21
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

7 months
3 years

The English Church, Greymouth

05/949

John Leach, Father

25 January 1905

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	2
Date of Notice	25 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Roberts	Elizabeth Howard Leach
	💍 1905/5987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mines	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	7 months	3 years
Marriage Place	The English Church, Greymouth
Folio	05/949
Consent	John Leach, Father
Date of Certificate	25 January 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

2 February 1905

Henry Maurice Rigby
Monimia Freeman

Henry Maurice Rigby
Monimia Freeman
💍 1905/6035

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman

29
28

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

05/955

2 February 1905

Rev. Dennis Leen

No	3
Date of Notice	2 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Maurice Rigby	Monimia Freeman
	💍 1905/6035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	05/955
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dennis Leen

6 February 1905

James William John Bird
Alice Mary Whiteside

James Williams John Bird
Alice Mary Whiteside
💍 1905/6024

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

25
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

1 year
2 years

Salvation Army Barracks, Greymouth

05/954

6 February 1905

Ensign Alex. J. Marshall

No	4
Date of Notice	6 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William John Bird	Alice Mary Whiteside
BDM Match (98%)	James Williams John Bird	Alice Mary Whiteside
	💍 1905/6024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Greymouth
Folio	05/954
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Ensign Alex. J. Marshall

11 February 1905

Thomas Dumbleton
Elizabeth Stewart

Thomas Dumbleton
Elizabeth Stewart
💍 1905/5988

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

26
27

Greymouth
Coal Creek

2 years
27 years

Trinity Hall, Greymouth

05/950

11 February 1905

Rev. G. W. York

No	5
Date of Notice	11 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Dumbleton	Elizabeth Stewart
	💍 1905/5988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Coal Creek
Length of Residence	2 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Hall, Greymouth
Folio	05/950
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. York

7 February 1905

James Hamilton McHraith
Elizabeth Maud Lin Noble

James Hamilton McIlraith
Elizabeth Maud-Lin Noble
💍 1905/5991

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
Domestic

29
28

Doyles Town, Canvastown
Cobden

3 days
1 year

Methodist Church, Greymouth

05/953

7 February 1905

Rev. Thos. Trustrail

No	5
Date of Notice	7 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hamilton McHraith	Elizabeth Maud Lin Noble
BDM Match (94%)	James Hamilton McIlraith	Elizabeth Maud-Lin Noble
	💍 1905/5991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	Domestic
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Doyles Town, Canvastown	Cobden
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	05/953
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Trustrail

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).