Intentions to Marry, 1913 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840453, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 700

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Alexander 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

3114

21 February 1913

Joseph Edgar Ewing
Mary Jane Moncrieff

Joseph Edgar Ewing
Mary Jane Moncrieff
💍 1913/2228

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer & Confectioner

29
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 1/2 years
25 years

In the Church of Christ, Oamaru

13/1744

21 February 1913

Rev. James Douglas Mill

No	3114
Date of Notice	21 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edgar Ewing	Mary Jane Moncrieff
	💍 1913/2228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer & Confectioner
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of Christ, Oamaru
Folio	13/1744
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Douglas Mill

3115

22 February 1913

John Stanton
Margaret Johnston

John Stanton
Margaret Johnston
💍 1913/2500

Francis Alfred Sidon
Margaret Johnston
💍 1913/8283

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
HouseKeeper

45
36

usual: Tuapeka West, present: Oamaru
usual: Tuapeka West, present: Oamaru

3 days
one week

In St. Paul's Manse

13/1993

22 February 1913

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3115
Date of Notice	22 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stanton	Margaret Johnston
	💍 1913/2500
BDM Match (60%)	Francis Alfred Sidon	Margaret Johnston
	💍 1913/8283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	HouseKeeper
Age	45	36
Dwelling Place	usual: Tuapeka West, present: Oamaru	usual: Tuapeka West, present: Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	one week
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Manse
Folio	13/1993
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3116

26 February 1913

Andrew James Guild
Flora Eveline Schluter

Andrew James Guild
Flora Eveline Schluter
💍 1913/2241

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

44
29

usual: Middlemarch, present: Oamaru
PuKeuri

3 days
29 years

In the dwelling of Mr. John Hepburn, Beach Road, Oamaru

13/1732

26 February 1913

Rev. John Steven

No	3116
Date of Notice	26 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew James Guild	Flora Eveline Schluter
	💍 1913/2241
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	44	29
Dwelling Place	usual: Middlemarch, present: Oamaru	PuKeuri
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Mr. John Hepburn, Beach Road, Oamaru
Folio	13/1732
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

3117

27 February 1913

George Bolton Colclough
Frances Amelia Lister

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Farmer

53
49

Waiaki South
Ardgowan

9 years
49 years

In the residence of Mrs. Frances Lister, Ardgowan

13/1746

27 February 1913

Rev. James D. Wilson

No	3117
Date of Notice	27 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bolton Colclough	Frances Amelia Lister
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Farmer
Age	53	49
Dwelling Place	Waiaki South	Ardgowan
Length of Residence	9 years	49 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs. Frances Lister, Ardgowan
Folio	13/1746
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James D. Wilson

3124

25 March 1913

Herbert Radd
Mary Ann Reeves

Herbert Radd
Mary Ann Reeves
💍 1913/2501

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

29
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

In the residence of Mr. William Porter, Humber Street

13/1994

25 March 1913

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3124
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Radd	Mary Ann Reeves
	💍 1913/2501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. William Porter, Humber Street
Folio	13/1994
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3125

25 March 1913

Michael John O'Connor
Margaret Anne McMullan

Michael John O'Connor
Margaret Anne McMullan
💍 1913/3247

Bachelor
Spinster

Coppersmith
Cadette

26
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
6 weeks

In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

13/2852

25 March 1913

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3125
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael John O'Connor	Margaret Anne McMullan
	💍 1913/3247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coppersmith	Cadette
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	13/2852
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

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).