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 685

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar Robert Percy 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

2430

26 April 1905

James Freeman
Elizabeth Anderson

James Freeman
Elizabeth Anderson
💍 1905/4539

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20
23

Enfield
Enfield

13 years
23 years

Residence of Mr. James Heward Anderson at Enfield

05/7162

Frederick Freeman, Father

26 April 1905

Rev. J. S. McLeod

No	2430
Date of Notice	26 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Freeman	Elizabeth Anderson
	💍 1905/4539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	13 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Heward Anderson at Enfield
Folio	05/7162
Consent	Frederick Freeman, Father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. McLeod

2431

29 April 1905

Brandon McLean
Elizabeth Dunlop Lennie

Evander McLean
Elizabeth Dunlop Lennie
💍 1905/1722

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
24

Oamaru
Weston

3 days
3 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

05/3459

29 April 1905

Robert Percy Ward, Registrar of Marriages

No	2431
Date of Notice	29 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Brandon McLean	Elizabeth Dunlop Lennie
BDM Match (86%)	Evander McLean	Elizabeth Dunlop Lennie
	💍 1905/1722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Weston
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru
Folio	05/3459
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Robert Percy Ward, Registrar of Marriages

2432

1 May 1905

John Francis O'Connor
Margaret Drew

John Francis OConnor
Margaret Drew
💍 1905/2638

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

29
18

Papakaio
Hilderthorpe

29 years
18 years

Residence of Mr. John Francis O'Connor at Papakaio

05/5044

Frederick Drew, Father

1 May 1905

Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

No	2432
Date of Notice	1 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis O'Connor	Margaret Drew
BDM Match (98%)	John Francis OConnor	Margaret Drew
	💍 1905/2638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Hilderthorpe
Length of Residence	29 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Francis O'Connor at Papakaio
Folio	05/5044
Consent	Frederick Drew, Father
Date of Certificate	1 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

2433

6 May 1905

William John Hunter
Winifred Edith Rule

William John Hunter
Winifred Edith Rule
💍 1905/1725

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

21
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

9 years
21 years

Residence of Rev. W. Wright, Hull St., Oamaru

05/3462

6 May 1905

Rev. W. Wright

No	2433
Date of Notice	6 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Hunter	Winifred Edith Rule
	💍 1905/1725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. Wright, Hull St., Oamaru
Folio	05/3462
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wright

2434

10 May 1905

John Patrick Fogarty
Margaret Eliza McPhee

John Patrick Fogarty
Margaret Eliza McPhee
💍 1905/2649

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookmaker
Waitress

32
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
22 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

05/5045

10 May 1905

Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

No	2434
Date of Notice	10 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Fogarty	Margaret Eliza McPhee
	💍 1905/2649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookmaker	Waitress
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	05/5045
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

2435

11 May 1905

William Henry Badger Dixon
Margaret Mackay

William Henry Bridger Luxon
Margaret Mackay
💍 1905/2656

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Book

28
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

27 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

05/5046

11 May 1905

Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

No	2435
Date of Notice	11 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Badger Dixon	Margaret Mackay
BDM Match (93%)	William Henry Bridger Luxon	Margaret Mackay
	💍 1905/2656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Book
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	05/5046
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

2436

15 May 1905

Leonard Brown Couch
Elizabeth Jones Bailey

Leonard Vivian Couch
Elizabeth Jones Bailey
💍 1905/1080

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller
Nurse

23
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

6 years
24 years

Wesley Church, Oamaru

05/3465

15 May 1905

Rev. L. Hudson

No	2436
Date of Notice	15 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Brown Couch	Elizabeth Jones Bailey
BDM Match (88%)	Leonard Vivian Couch	Elizabeth Jones Bailey
	💍 1905/1080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller	Nurse
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Oamaru
Folio	05/3465
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Hudson

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 1908. 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).