Intentions to Marry, 1905 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840429, 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 686

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar A. P. Ward

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

2437

29 May 1905

Daniel Harvey
Catherine Gordon

Daniel Hanney
Catherine Gordon
💍 1905/2657

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
24

Windsor
Aragowan

6 years
24 years

The Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

05/5047

29 May 1905

Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

No	2437
Date of Notice	29 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Harvey	Catherine Gordon
BDM Match (92%)	Daniel Hanney	Catherine Gordon
	💍 1905/2657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Windsor	Aragowan
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	05/5047
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

2438

9 June 1905

John Sinclair
Isabella Robinson

John Sinclair
Isabella Robinson
💍 1905/1064

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Cook

31
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 1/2 years
3 days

St. Paul's Church, Oamaru

05/3473

9 June 1905

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2438
Date of Notice	9 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sinclair	Isabella Robinson
	💍 1905/1064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Cook
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Oamaru
Folio	05/3473
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2439

9 June 1905

John Slade Benge
Alice Jane Moscrop

John Slade Genge
Alice Jane Moscrop
💍 1905/1081

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Tailoress

24
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

9 years
22 years

Residence of Jonathan Moscrop, Exe St., Oamaru

05/3466

9 June 1905

Rev. Lewis Hudson

No	2439
Date of Notice	9 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Slade Benge	Alice Jane Moscrop
BDM Match (97%)	John Slade Genge	Alice Jane Moscrop
	💍 1905/1081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Tailoress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Jonathan Moscrop, Exe St., Oamaru
Folio	05/3466
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lewis Hudson

2440

9 June 1905

William Henry Halpy Steadman
Sarah Chisnall

William Henry Valpy
Steadman Sarah Chisnall
💍 1905/1082

Widower
Spinster

Accountant
Massage Nurse

46
37

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 months
4 months

Wesley Church, Oamaru

05/3467

9 June 1905

Rev. Lewis Hudson

No	2440
Date of Notice	9 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Halpy Steadman	Sarah Chisnall
BDM Match (63%)	William Henry Valpy	Steadman Sarah Chisnall
	💍 1905/1082
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Massage Nurse
Age	46	37
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Oamaru
Folio	05/3467
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lewis Hudson

2441

13 June 1905

James O'Connor
Georgina Lindsay

James O'Connor
Georgina Lindsay
💍 1905/1062

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

22
24

Weston
Weston

6 months
10 days

Residence of Rev. N. Wright, Oamaru

05/3463

13 June 1905

Rev. N. Wright

No	2441
Date of Notice	13 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Connor	Georgina Lindsay
	💍 1905/1062
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Weston	Weston
Length of Residence	6 months	10 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. N. Wright, Oamaru
Folio	05/3463
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. Wright

2442

14 June 1905

Hugh Bleland
Catherine Elizabeth Duncan

Hugh Cleland
Catherine Elizabeth Duncan
💍 1905/7053

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolsorter

29
31

Blenheim
Oamaru

3 weeks
31 years

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

05/2612

14 June 1905

Rev. W. M. Robb

No	2442
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Bleland	Catherine Elizabeth Duncan
BDM Match (96%)	Hugh Cleland	Catherine Elizabeth Duncan
	💍 1905/7053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolsorter
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 weeks	31 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	05/2612
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Robb

2443

26 June 1905

Peter Clark Taylor
Jessie Isabella Murray

Peter Clark Taylor
Jessie McGillivray
💍 1905/1073

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper

34
34

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
2 years

Residence of Mr. Robert Isabella Murray, Greta Street, Oamaru

05/3404

26 June 1905

Rev. D. M. McCracken

No	2443
Date of Notice	26 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Clark Taylor	Jessie Isabella Murray
BDM Match (77%)	Peter Clark Taylor	Jessie McGillivray
	💍 1905/1073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Robert Isabella Murray, Greta Street, Oamaru
Folio	05/3404
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. McCracken

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).