Intentions to Marry, 1870

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840382, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, November 15 2024

Page 537

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1870

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
213	17 January 1870	Joseph Wilson Farron Emily Collings	Joseph Wilson Farrar Emily Hollings 💍 1870/8127	Bachelor Widow	Wool scourer	34 34	Makarora Kakanui	7 Years 9 Years	The Residence of Mr. John Barraclough Kakanui		17 January 1870	Rev. William Lee
214	29 January 1870	John Newbery Agnes Douglas	John Hembery Agnes Douglas 💍 1870/8136 Robert Temple Brown Agnes Douglas 💍 1870/6429	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Dom. Servant	45 35	Oamaru Boundary Creek	8 years 18 months	St Luke's Church Oamaru		29 January 1870	Rev. Algernon Gifford
215	31 January 1870	Robert Merrit Christian Donaldson	Robert Merritt Christina Donaldson 💍 1870/8118	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Dom. Serv.	21 19	Herbert Herbert	12 months 12 months	Dwelling house of Joseph Donaldson	Mr. J. Donaldson, Father	31 January 1870	Rev. John Ayley
216	10 February 1870	Maurice Roche Ellen Herkins	Maurice Roche Ellen Herkins 💍 1870/8121	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 36	Gladys Stream Oamaru	4 Years 3 Years	Church of St. Patrick Oamaru		10 February 1870	Rev. James A. Morris
217	17 February 1870	Edmund Gibson Harriett Ann Smith	Edmund Gibson Harriet Ann Smith 💍 1870/8139	Bachelor	Landholder	35	Oamaru	4 years	The Residence of H. D. Rich Waikouaiti Palmerston		17 February 1870	Rev. Algernon Gifford
218	22 February 1870	Roderick McKenzie Mary Dillon	Roderick McKenzie Mary Dillon 💍 1870/8124	Widower Spinster	Storekeeper Dom Servant	37 38	Oamaru Oamaru	4 Years 4 years	Star & Garter Hotel Oamaru		22 February 1870	Rev. James A. Morris
219	7 March 1870	Robert William Adair Alice Elizabeth Earle	Robert William Adair Alice Elizth Earle 💍 1870/8079	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	25 17	Oamaru Oamaru	4 years 7 years	The Manse Oamaru	Fred. Earle, Father	7 March 1870	Rev. A. B. Todd
220	22 March 1870	David Grant Susan Boland	David Grant Susan Bolund 💍 1870/8082	Bachelor Spinster	Billiards Marker Dom. Serv.	32 28	Oamaru Oamaru	19 Months 15 Months	The Manse Oamaru		22 March 1870	Rev. A. B. Todd
221	26 March 1870	Francis Hubbard Minnie Marion Harper	Frank Hubbard Marion Harper Muir 💍 1870/8088	Bachelor Spinster	Maltster	21 17	Oamaru Oamaru	1 Year 3 years	Residence of Mr. Thos. Harris	Marion Struan, Guardian	26 March 1870	Rev. A. B. Todd

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).