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 687

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

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

2835

16 March 1910

James Strachan Bell Anderson
Vera Winifred Cross

James Strachar Bell Anderson
Vera Winifred Cross
💍 1910/1852

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach, Builder
Tailoress

32
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

9 years
23 years

In the Wesley Church, Oamaru

10/1846

16 March 1910

Rev. T. H. Griffin

No	2835
Date of Notice	16 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Strachan Bell Anderson	Vera Winifred Cross
BDM Match (98%)	James Strachar Bell Anderson	Vera Winifred Cross
	💍 1910/1852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach, Builder	Tailoress
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesley Church, Oamaru
Folio	10/1846
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Griffin

2836

21 March 1910

Henry Nightingale
Clara Rodda

Henry Nightingale
Clara Rodda
💍 1910/8271

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
24

Oamaru
Humber Street, Oamaru

23 years
24 years

In the residence of Caroline Rodda

10/1847

21 March 1910

Rev. T. H. Griffin

No	2836
Date of Notice	21 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Nightingale	Clara Rodda
	💍 1910/8271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Humber Street, Oamaru
Length of Residence	23 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Caroline Rodda
Folio	10/1847
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Griffin

2837

22 March 1910

Thomas Robson
Catherine Beaton

Thomas Robson
Catherine Beaton
💍 1910/1839

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

35
30

Oamaru
Wansbeck Street, Oamaru

3 days
15 years

In the residence of Alexander Beaton

10/1838

22 March 1910

Rev. T. H. Mathieson

No	2837
Date of Notice	22 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Robson	Catherine Beaton
	💍 1910/1839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Wansbeck Street, Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Alexander Beaton
Folio	10/1838
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Mathieson

2838

22 March 1910

Robert James Hinkley
Ethel Margaret Smith

Robert James Henkley
Ethel Margaret Smith
💍 1910/8270

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

23
22

Oamaru
Hull Street, Oamaru

35 years
About 6 years

In the residence of David Smith

10/1839

22 March 1910

Rev. T. H. Mathieson

No	2838
Date of Notice	22 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Hinkley	Ethel Margaret Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Robert James Henkley	Ethel Margaret Smith
	💍 1910/8270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Hull Street, Oamaru
Length of Residence	35 years	About 6 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of David Smith
Folio	10/1839
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Mathieson

2839

28 March 1910

Robert Illingworth
Mary Ellen Byers

Robert Illingworth
Mary Ellen Byers
💍 1910/1818

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

36
23

Kaikorai Valley, Dunedin (usual); Present Oamaru
Reidston

3 days
23 years

In the residence of Mrs. Ellen Byers, Reidston

10/1832

28 March 1910

Rev. Henry J. Davis

No	2839
Date of Notice	28 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Illingworth	Mary Ellen Byers
	💍 1910/1818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Kaikorai Valley, Dunedin (usual); Present Oamaru	Reidston
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs. Ellen Byers, Reidston
Folio	10/1832
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry J. Davis

2840

29 March 1910

Alister Vivian Eames
Edith Maud Gray

Allister Vivian Eames Grant
Edith Maud Gray
💍 1910/1847

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

29
25

93 Huxley Street, Sydenham (usual); Present Oamaru
Pukeuri

3 days
25 years

At the residence of Mr. W. L. Gray

10/1841

29 March 1910

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2840
Date of Notice	29 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alister Vivian Eames	Edith Maud Gray
BDM Match (87%)	Allister Vivian Eames Grant	Edith Maud Gray
	💍 1910/1847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	93 Huxley Street, Sydenham (usual); Present Oamaru	Pukeuri
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. W. L. Gray
Folio	10/1841
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2841

30 March 1910

James Hill
Mary Ann Kilpatrick

James Hill
Mary Ann Kilpatrick
💍 1910/1848

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Servant

28
20

South Oamaru
South Oamaru

28 years
6 months

In the residence of Robert Keen

10/1842

Robert Keen as Kilpatrick, Father

30 March 1910

Rev. John Harris

No	2841
Date of Notice	30 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hill	Mary Ann Kilpatrick
	💍 1910/1848
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Servant
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	South Oamaru	South Oamaru
Length of Residence	28 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the residence of Robert Keen
Folio	10/1842
Consent	Robert Keen as Kilpatrick, Father
Date of Certificate	30 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Harris

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).