Intentions to Marry, 1910 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840444, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1910 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1910a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1910b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1910c).

Page 685

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1910 Registrar Alexander Adam Mair

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

2873

11 January 1910

Ronald McDouald
Mary O'Connot

Ronald McDonald Griffith
Mary O Connor
💍 1910/1828

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

27
20

Oamaru
Deborah

3 1/2 years
20 years

In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

10/1837

Demis O'Cormor, Father

11 January 1910

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	2873
Date of Notice	11 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ronald McDouald	Mary O'Connot
BDM Match (71%)	Ronald McDonald Griffith	Mary O Connor
	💍 1910/1828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Deborah
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	10/1837
Consent	Demis O'Cormor, Father
Date of Certificate	11 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

2874

18 January 1910

John Keen
Helen McDianid

John Keen
Helen McDiarmid
💍 1910/5888

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
23

South Oamaru
Oamaru

25 years
23 years

In the residence of James McDiaring, North Town Belt, Oamaru

10/1595

18 January 1910

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2874
Date of Notice	18 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Keen	Helen McDianid
BDM Match (93%)	John Keen	Helen McDiarmid
	💍 1910/5888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	South Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of James McDiaring, North Town Belt, Oamaru
Folio	10/1595
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2875

21 January 1910

John James Kennedy Johnston
Gertrude Amy Burdett

John James Kennedy Johnston
Gertrude Amy Burdett
💍 1910/1819

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
20

Present Oamaru, usual Enfield
Present Oamaru, usual Herbert

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

10/1834

Evily Jane Frew, mother

21 January 1910

A. A. Mair, Registrar

No	2875
Date of Notice	21 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Kennedy Johnston	Gertrude Amy Burdett
	💍 1910/1819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Present Oamaru, usual Enfield	Present Oamaru, usual Herbert
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	10/1834
Consent	Evily Jane Frew, mother
Date of Certificate	21 January 1910
Officiating Minister	A. A. Mair, Registrar

2876

22 January 1910

Richard Henry Wrap
Miriam Ellen Laney

Richard Henry Wray
Miriam Ellen Laney
💍 1910/1849

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

38
30

Oamaru
Oamaru

about 35 years
30 years

In the residence of Edward Moreton, Green Street, Oamaru

10/1843

22 January 1910

Rev. J. H. Griffin

No	2876
Date of Notice	22 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Wrap	Miriam Ellen Laney
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Henry Wray	Miriam Ellen Laney
	💍 1910/1849
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	about 35 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Edward Moreton, Green Street, Oamaru
Folio	10/1843
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Griffin

2877

1 February 1910

John Patrick Ryall
Mary Francis Falcour

John Patrick Ryall
Mary Francis Falconer
💍 1910/1820

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

25
24

Usual 16 Cargill Road, South Dunedin
Oamaru

3 days
24 years

In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

10/1836

1 February 1910

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	2877
Date of Notice	1 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Ryall	Mary Francis Falcour
BDM Match (95%)	John Patrick Ryall	Mary Francis Falconer
	💍 1910/1820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Usual 16 Cargill Road, South Dunedin	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	10/1836
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

2878

1 February 1910

James King
Mary Couthill Orr

James King
Mary Couthill Orr
💍 1910/1850

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
27

Awamoko
Ngapara

28 years
about 20 years

In the residence of Alexander Orr, Ngapara

10/1844

1 February 1910

Rev. James Standing

No	2878
Date of Notice	1 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James King	Mary Couthill Orr
	💍 1910/1850
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Awamoko	Ngapara
Length of Residence	28 years	about 20 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Alexander Orr, Ngapara
Folio	10/1844
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Standing

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).