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 692

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 September 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

1 July 1905

James Gordon
Elizabeth Bulcher

James Gordon
Elizabeth Butcher
💍 1905/2023

Widower
Widow

Gold miner

69
68

Rutherglen
Rutherglen

15 years
30 years

The private residence of Mrs Elizabeth Bulcher at Rutherglen

05/4547

1 July 1905

Rev. R. R. Stewart

No	37
Date of Notice	1 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gordon	Elizabeth Bulcher
BDM Match (97%)	James Gordon	Elizabeth Butcher
	💍 1905/2023
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gold miner
Age	69	68
Dwelling Place	Rutherglen	Rutherglen
Length of Residence	15 years	30 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mrs Elizabeth Bulcher at Rutherglen
Folio	05/4547
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. R. Stewart

18 July 1905

Henry Edmund David
Catherine Agala Byrne

Henry Edmond Judd
Catherine Agatha Byrne
💍 1905/2747

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

30
24

Dunedin
Paroa

3 days
21 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth

05/5200

18 July 1905

Dean D. L. Carew

No	38
Date of Notice	18 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edmund David	Catherine Agala Byrne
BDM Match (82%)	Henry Edmond Judd	Catherine Agatha Byrne
	💍 1905/2747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Paroa
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth
Folio	05/5200
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Dean D. L. Carew

31 July 1905

Alfred William Blackburn
Mary Gray

Alfred William Blackburn
Mary Gray
💍 1905/2022

Widower
Spinster

Farrier

28
23

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 days
4 days

The Office of the Registrar at Greymouth

05/4546

31 July 1905

The Registrar Greymouth

No	39
Date of Notice	31 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Blackburn	Mary Gray
	💍 1905/2022
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farrier
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar at Greymouth
Folio	05/4546
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1905
Officiating Minister	The Registrar Greymouth

9 August 1905

Herbert Broge Thornton
Ellen Smith

Herbert Bridge Thornton Shearman
Ellen Smith
💍 1905/2025

George Irwin
Ellen Smith
💍 1905/1615

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic

31
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

12 months
3 years

Presbyterian Church Greymouth

05/4548

9 August 1905

Rev. R. R. Stewart

No	40
Date of Notice	9 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Broge Thornton	Ellen Smith
BDM Match (83%)	Herbert Bridge Thornton Shearman	Ellen Smith
	💍 1905/2025
BDM Match (66%)	George Irwin	Ellen Smith
	💍 1905/1615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Greymouth
Folio	05/4548
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. R. Stewart

10 August 1905

Andrew Alfred Phillips
Olive Christina Weaver

Andrew Alfred Phillips
Olive Christina Weaver
💍 1905/2021

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Domestic

23
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 days
19 years

The Church of England Greymouth

05/4545

William Weaver, father

10 August 1905

Rev. W. York

No	41
Date of Notice	10 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Alfred Phillips	Olive Christina Weaver
	💍 1905/2021
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England Greymouth
Folio	05/4545
Consent	William Weaver, father
Date of Certificate	10 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. York

22 August 1905

George Alfred Webster
Catherine O'Neill

George Alfred Webster
Catherine ONeill
💍 1905/2748

Bachelor
Spinster

Umbrella maker
Domestic

28
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 months
2 years

Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth

05/5201

22 August 1905

Rev. D. L. Carew

No	42
Date of Notice	22 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Webster	Catherine O'Neill
BDM Match (97%)	George Alfred Webster	Catherine ONeill
	💍 1905/2748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Umbrella maker	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth
Folio	05/5201
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. L. Carew

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).