Intentions to Marry, 1911 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840447, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 729

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1911 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

2932

4 April 1911

John Rosie
Margaret Gertrude Swinard

John Rosie
Margaret Gertrude Swinard
💍 1911/8878

Bachelor
Spinster

Millman
Tailoress

33
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

31 years
24 years

In the residence of Charles Henry Swinard, Severn Street, Oamaru

11/3833

4 April 1911

Rev. F. G. Buckingham

No	2932
Date of Notice	4 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rosie	Margaret Gertrude Swinard
	💍 1911/8878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millman	Tailoress
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	31 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Charles Henry Swinard, Severn Street, Oamaru
Folio	11/3833
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Buckingham

2933

7 April 1911

James Henry Fuller
Eva Mabel Ferris

James Henry Fuller
Eva Mabel Ferris
💍 1911/4369

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Domestic Duties

27
28

Usual Glasgow Terrace, Auckland, present Oamaru
Newborough

3 days
28 years

St. Luke's English Church, Oamaru

11/4112

7 April 1911

Rev. David Jamieson

No	2933
Date of Notice	7 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Fuller	Eva Mabel Ferris
	💍 1911/4369
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Usual Glasgow Terrace, Auckland, present Oamaru	Newborough
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's English Church, Oamaru
Folio	11/4112
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Jamieson

2934

11 April 1911

Thomas Richard Berry
Annie Imelda McMahon

Thomas Richard Berry
Annie Imelda McMahon
💍 1911/3844

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Tailoress

24
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
24 years

The Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

11/3550

11 April 1911

Rev. Henry Norman Woods

No	2934
Date of Notice	11 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Richard Berry	Annie Imelda McMahon
	💍 1911/3844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Tailoress
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	11/3550
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Norman Woods

2935

13 April 1911

Robert Urquhart
Mary Ann Conlan

Robert Urquhart
Mary Ann Conlan
💍 1911/6030

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
30

Usual Island Cliff, present Oamaru
Ngapara

3 days
30 years

In the residence of Mrs. Fellew Conlan at Ngapara

11/5810

13 April 1911

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	2935
Date of Notice	13 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Urquhart	Mary Ann Conlan
	💍 1911/6030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Usual Island Cliff, present Oamaru	Ngapara
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs. Fellew Conlan at Ngapara
Folio	11/5810
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

2936

18 April 1911

Edwin Bain
Leonora Ethel Coughlan

Edwin Bain
Leonore Ethel Coughlan
💍 1911/3843

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

20
19

Present Oamaru, usual Kurow
Present Oamaru, usual Kurow

5 days
4 days

In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

11/3549

Neil Bain, Father. Joseph Coughlan, Father.

18 April 1911

Rev. Henry Norman Woods

No	2936
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Bain	Leonora Ethel Coughlan
BDM Match (98%)	Edwin Bain	Leonore Ethel Coughlan
	💍 1911/3843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Present Oamaru, usual Kurow	Present Oamaru, usual Kurow
Length of Residence	5 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	11/3549
Consent	Neil Bain, Father. Joseph Coughlan, Father.
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Norman Woods

2937

19 April 1911

Charles Ridgway Graham
Matilda Wilson

Charles Ridgway Graham
Matilda Wilson
💍 1911/6207

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
34

Totara
Oamaru

4 years
34 years

In the residence of Mr. James Wilson at Oamaru

11/6048

19 April 1911

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2937
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ridgway Graham	Matilda Wilson
	💍 1911/6207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Totara	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	34 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. James Wilson at Oamaru
Folio	11/6048
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

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).