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 686

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

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

2829

9 February 1910

Arthur Forbes
Duartha Baker

Arthur Forbes
Martha Baker
💍 1910/8269

Widower
Spinster

Surfaceman

27
34

Usual Richmond
Richmond

27 years
34 years

In the office of the Registrar, Oamaru

10/1835

9 February 1910

A. A. Quair, Registrar of Marriages

No	2829
Date of Notice	9 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Forbes	Duartha Baker
BDM Match (92%)	Arthur Forbes	Martha Baker
	💍 1910/8269
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman
Age	27	34
Dwelling Place	Usual Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	27 years	34 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar, Oamaru
Folio	10/1835
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1910
Officiating Minister	A. A. Quair, Registrar of Marriages

2830

18 February 1910

William White
Margaret Patterson

William White
Margaret Patterson
💍 1910/1846

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

33
32

Enfield
Enfield

17 years
8 years

In St. Paul's Church, Oamaru

10/1840

18 February 1910

Rev. P. J. Porter

No	2830
Date of Notice	18 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William White	Margaret Patterson
	💍 1910/1846
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	17 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church, Oamaru
Folio	10/1840
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Porter

2831

21 February 1910

Robert John William Gunn
Violet Frith

Robert John William Gunn
Violet Frith
💍 1910/1817

Bachelor
Spinster

Locomotive Engine Driver

25
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 years
21 years

At the Church of Christ, Thames

10/1831

21 February 1910

Rev. J. H. Mathieson

No	2831
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John William Gunn	Violet Frith
	💍 1910/1817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Locomotive Engine Driver
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the Church of Christ, Thames
Folio	10/1831
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Mathieson

2832

28 February 1910

James Poyner
Rebecca Elizabeth Goodall

James Poyner
Rebecca Elizabeth Goodall
💍 1910/1816

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
27

South Oamaru
South Oamaru

2 months
27 years

In the residence of Samuel Henry Goodall

10/1830

28 February 1910

Rev. John Harris

No	2832
Date of Notice	28 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Poyner	Rebecca Elizabeth Goodall
	💍 1910/1816
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	South Oamaru	South Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 months	27 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Samuel Henry Goodall
Folio	10/1830
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Harris

2833

2 March 1910

James Stewart
Phoebe Ellen Quanton

James Stewart
Phoebe Ellen Manton
💍 1910/1851

James Stewart
Alice Mary Duane
💍 1911/1043

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

49
38

Oamaru
Oamaru

7 years
38 years

In St. Luke's Church, Oamaru

10/1845

2 March 1910

Rev. J. G. Bartlett

No	2833
Date of Notice	2 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stewart	Phoebe Ellen Quanton
BDM Match (95%)	James Stewart	Phoebe Ellen Manton
	💍 1910/1851
BDM Match (65%)	James Stewart	Alice Mary Duane
	💍 1911/1043
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	49	38
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	7 years	38 years
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church, Oamaru
Folio	10/1845
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Bartlett

2834

9 March 1910

Matthew Baxter
Hannah Byers

Matthew Baxter
Hannah Byers
💍 1910/8268

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant

34
21

Oamaru
Reidston

3 days
21 years

In the residence of Richard Byers

10/1833

9 March 1910

Rev. Henry Jno Davis

No	2834
Date of Notice	9 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Baxter	Hannah Byers
	💍 1910/8268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Reidston
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Richard Byers
Folio	10/1833
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Jno Davis

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).