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 683

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 June 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

4 April 1905

John William McDonald
Julia Phillipa Philips

John William McDonald
Julia Philippa Phillips
💍 1905/5420

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

31
27

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 months
6 months

Residence of John William McDonald, Chapel Street, Greymouth

05/2704

4 April 1905

Rev. Robt. Stewart

No	12
Date of Notice	4 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William McDonald	Julia Phillipa Philips
BDM Match (94%)	John William McDonald	Julia Philippa Phillips
	💍 1905/5420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of John William McDonald, Chapel Street, Greymouth
Folio	05/2704
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Stewart

5 April 1905

Charles Henry Nelson
Margaret Ann Hutchings

Charles Henry Nelson
Margaret Ann Hutchings
💍 1905/5432

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

22 years
22 years

At the private residence of Mr. William Earl, Blaketown, Greymouth

05/2693

5 April 1905

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	13
Date of Notice	5 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Nelson	Margaret Ann Hutchings
	💍 1905/5432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr. William Earl, Blaketown, Greymouth
Folio	05/2693
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

10 April 1905

Alfred Combe
Rhoda Garland

Alfred Coumbe
Rhoda Garland
💍 1905/5433

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

10 years
6 months

The Church of England, Greymouth

05/2694

Edward Garland, father

10 April 1905

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	14
Date of Notice	10 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Combe	Rhoda Garland
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Coumbe	Rhoda Garland
	💍 1905/5433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	10 years	6 months
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	05/2694
Consent	Edward Garland, father
Date of Certificate	10 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

10 April 1905

Herbert Cuthbert Harris
Annie Manera

Hunter Herbert Cuthbert Haines
Annie Manuera
💍 1905/5435

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic

27
23

Greymouth
Ross

12 months
5 days

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

05/2711

10 April 1905

Rev. D. V. Caren

No	15
Date of Notice	10 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Cuthbert Harris	Annie Manera
BDM Match (80%)	Hunter Herbert Cuthbert Haines	Annie Manuera
	💍 1905/5435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Ross
Length of Residence	12 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	05/2711
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. V. Caren

17 April 1905

Francis Henry Walsh
Frances Elizabeth Cameron

Francis Henry Walsh
Frances Elizabeth Cameron
💍 1905/5421

Charles Henry Hart Willetts
Janet Elizabeth Cameron
💍 1905/4775

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

24
18

Greymouth
Kaiata

4 years
18 years

The Residence of Rev. R. Stewart, Tainui Street, Greymouth

05/2705

Samuel Cameron, father

17 April 1905

Rev. Robt. Stewart

No	16
Date of Notice	17 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Walsh	Frances Elizabeth Cameron
	💍 1905/5421
BDM Match (62%)	Charles Henry Hart Willetts	Janet Elizabeth Cameron
	💍 1905/4775
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Kaiata
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Rev. R. Stewart, Tainui Street, Greymouth
Folio	05/2705
Consent	Samuel Cameron, father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Stewart

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).