Intentions to Marry, 1909 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840441, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1909 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1909a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1909b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1909c).

Page 683

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar Alexander Adam Wait

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

2759

5 April 1909

Andrew Waugh Whillans
Sarah Florence Inoscrop

Andrew Waugh Whillans
Sarah Florence Moscrop
💍 1909/2864

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24 years
21 years

Oamaru
Oamaru

7 years
21 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

09/3645

5 April 1909

Rev. J. H. Griffin

No	2759
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Waugh Whillans	Sarah Florence Inoscrop
BDM Match (96%)	Andrew Waugh Whillans	Sarah Florence Moscrop
	💍 1909/2864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/3645
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Griffin

2760

6 April 1909

Thomas Neen
Margaret McEneany

Thomas Keen
Margaret McEneany
💍 1909/2871

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35 years
26 years

Pukeuri
Pukeuri

4 years
26 years

In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

09/3629

6 April 1909

Rev. Alex. Farthing

No	2760
Date of Notice	6 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Neen	Margaret McEneany
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Keen	Margaret McEneany
	💍 1909/2871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Pukeuri	Pukeuri
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	09/3629
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. Farthing

2761

7 April 1909

James Lindsay Elder
Euphemia Gunn

James Lindsay Elder
Euphemia Gunn
💍 1909/2860

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
26

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 years

At the residence of Mr. F. Gunn, Street, Oamaru

09/3641

7 April 1909

Rev. W. Wright

No	2761
Date of Notice	7 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lindsay Elder	Euphemia Gunn
	💍 1909/2860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. F. Gunn, Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/3641
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wright

2762

8 April 1909

William John Laney
Mary Jane Ross

William John Laney
Mary Jane Ross
💍 1909/2872

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26 years
21 years

Ardgowan
Enfield

13 years
4 years

In the residence of Mrs. Bridget Ross, Enfield

09/3630

8 April 1909

Rev. John T. F. Mackay

No	2762
Date of Notice	8 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Laney	Mary Jane Ross
	💍 1909/2872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Enfield
Length of Residence	13 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs. Bridget Ross, Enfield
Folio	09/3630
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. John T. F. Mackay

2763

13 April 1909

William Henry McKindy
Sarah Mary Clarke

William Henry McKirdy
Sarah Mary Clarke
💍 1909/2856

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
24 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

09/3638

13 April 1909

Registrar of Marriages

No	2763
Date of Notice	13 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry McKindy	Sarah Mary Clarke
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry McKirdy	Sarah Mary Clarke
	💍 1909/2856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	09/3638
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

2764

14 April 1909

George Harkness Buchanan
Barbara Cunningham Fairlie Lutton

George Harkners Buchanan
Barbara Cunningham Fairlie Sutton
💍 1909/4113

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

31 years
25 years

Oamaru
Oamaru

5 days
3 years

In St. Luke's Church, Oamaru

09/5410

14 April 1909

Rev. J. Ed. Bartlett

No	2764
Date of Notice	14 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Harkness Buchanan	Barbara Cunningham Fairlie Lutton
BDM Match (96%)	George Harkners Buchanan	Barbara Cunningham Fairlie Sutton
	💍 1909/4113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	31 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church, Oamaru
Folio	09/5410
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ed. Bartlett

2765

17 April 1909

Walter Blackie Allan
Isabella White Goodall

Walter Blackie Allan
Isabella White Goodall
💍 1909/2372

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
37

Oraitaki
Hilderthorpe

3 years
30 years

In the residence of Mr. Goodall, the bride's father, Hilderthorpe

09/3647

17 April 1909

Rev. John Steven

No	2765
Date of Notice	17 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Blackie Allan	Isabella White Goodall
	💍 1909/2372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	37
Dwelling Place	Oraitaki	Hilderthorpe
Length of Residence	3 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. Goodall, the bride's father, Hilderthorpe
Folio	09/3647
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

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).