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 716

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 December 1913 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

3169

3 October 1913

Robert Logan Scott
Bessie Weir McKenzie

Robert Logan Scott
Bessie Weir McKenzie
💍 1913/8290

Bachelor
Divorced

Laborer

33
34

Oamaru
Waiareka

7 days
32 years

In the residence of Mr. Stewart McKenzie, Waiareka

13/8032

3 October 1913

Rev. William Wright

No	3169
Date of Notice	3 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Logan Scott	Bessie Weir McKenzie
	💍 1913/8290
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Laborer
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Waiareka
Length of Residence	7 days	32 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. Stewart McKenzie, Waiareka
Folio	13/8032
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3170

4 October 1913

Samuel James Barkley
Mary Agnes Kiely

Samuel James Barkley
Mary Agnes Kiely
💍 1913/8264

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

38
20

Totara
Totara

7 years
8 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

8029

Patrick Kiely, father

4 October 1913

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3170
Date of Notice	4 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Barkley	Mary Agnes Kiely
	💍 1913/8264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	38	20
Dwelling Place	Totara	Totara
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	8029
Consent	Patrick Kiely, father
Date of Certificate	4 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3171

7 October 1913

Thomas Patrick Fitzgerald
Mary Ann Flett

Thomas Patrick Fitzgerald
Mary Ann Flett
💍 1913/8260

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
29

Enfield
Enfield

3 days
29 years

In the residence of Mr. Jacob Johnston Flett, Enfield

8025

7 October 1913

Rev. Henry Clark

No	3171
Date of Notice	7 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Patrick Fitzgerald	Mary Ann Flett
	💍 1913/8260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. Jacob Johnston Flett, Enfield
Folio	8025
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Clark

3172

8 October 1913

William John Lightfoot
Isabella Melrose

William John Lightfoot
Isabella Melrose
💍 1913/8291

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

34
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 years
6 months

Columba Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

8033

8 October 1913

Rev. William Wright

No	3172
Date of Notice	8 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Lightfoot	Isabella Melrose
	💍 1913/8291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Columba Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	8033
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3173

14 October 1913

Herbert James Gozer
Winifred Smith

Herbert James Toyer
Winifred Smith
💍 1913/8294

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's assistant
Dressmaker

27
21

Palmerston
Oamaru

6 months
21 years

At the Wesleyan Church Manse, Oamaru

8036

14 October 1913

Rev. William James Williams

No	3173
Date of Notice	14 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert James Gozer	Winifred Smith
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert James Toyer	Winifred Smith
	💍 1913/8294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's assistant	Dressmaker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	At the Wesleyan Church Manse, Oamaru
Folio	8036
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. William James Williams

3174

20 October 1913

Stanley William Easton
Helena Poff

Stanley William Easton
Helena Poff
💍 1913/8686

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

21
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

1 month
1 year

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

8615

20 October 1913

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3174
Date of Notice	20 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley William Easton	Helena Poff
	💍 1913/8686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 month	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	8615
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 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).