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 718

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

3181

10 November 1913

James Fallow
Mary Ann Harney

James Fallon
Mary Ann Harney
💍 1913/8263

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

41
35

Ardgowan
Oamaru

17 years
20 years

St. Patrick's Basilica

8028

10 November 1913

Rev. Edmund Lynch

No	3181
Date of Notice	10 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fallow	Mary Ann Harney
BDM Match (96%)	James Fallon	Mary Ann Harney
	💍 1913/8263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Oamaru
Length of Residence	17 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Basilica
Folio	8028
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edmund Lynch

3182

18 November 1913

Alfred Cathery Depree
Nora Brooker

Alfred Cathery Depree
Nora Brooker
💍 1913/8262

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

34
31

Oamaru
Oamaru

11 months
3 years

St. Luke's Church

8027

18 November 1913

Rev. John Delacourt Russell

No	3182
Date of Notice	18 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Cathery Depree	Nora Brooker
	💍 1913/8262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	11 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church
Folio	8027
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Delacourt Russell

3183

18 November 1913

Alexander Hamilton Eddington
Georgina Campbell

Alexander Hamilton Eddington
Georgina Campbell
💍 1913/8261

Widower
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic duties

30
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days, Residence of Mrs. Mary McKenzie
3 days, Jessop Street, South Oamaru

8026

18 November 1913

Rev. J. D. Wilson

No	3183
Date of Notice	18 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hamilton Eddington	Georgina Campbell
	💍 1913/8261
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days, Residence of Mrs. Mary McKenzie	3 days, Jessop Street, South Oamaru
Marriage Place
Folio	8026
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Wilson

3185

18 December 1913

James Mart Deales
Annabella McRae

James Mark Seales
Annabella McRae
💍 1913/8272

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
30

Windsor
Windsor

2 years, Residence of Mr. J. M. McRae
12 years, Windsor

8030

18 December 1913

Rev. H. Clarke

No	3185
Date of Notice	18 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mart Deales	Annabella McRae
BDM Match (94%)	James Mark Seales	Annabella McRae
	💍 1913/8272
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Windsor	Windsor
Length of Residence	2 years, Residence of Mr. J. M. McRae	12 years, Windsor
Marriage Place
Folio	8030
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Clarke

3186

24 December 1913

Joseph Martyn Jackson
Florence Nightingale

John Dungee Murton
Florence Nightingale
💍 1913/7290

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic
Clerk

21
26

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years, Residence of Mr. Robert Jackson
26 years, Ure Street, Oamaru

1729

24 December 1913

Rev. William Wright

No	3186
Date of Notice	24 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Martyn Jackson	Florence Nightingale
BDM Match (64%)	John Dungee Murton	Florence Nightingale
	💍 1913/7290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic	Clerk
Age	21	26
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years, Residence of Mr. Robert Jackson	26 years, Ure Street, Oamaru
Marriage Place
Folio	1729
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3187

24 December 1913

Charles Jewell McClure
Sarah Ann McClure

Charles Jewell
Sarah Ann McClure
💍 1913/8080

Widower
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

47
38

Oamaru
Killinchy

4 years, Residence of Mr. George McClure
38 years, Killinchy

13/7846

24 December 1913

Rev. Thomas A. Joughin

No	3187
Date of Notice	24 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Jewell McClure	Sarah Ann McClure
BDM Match (82%)	Charles Jewell	Sarah Ann McClure
	💍 1913/8080
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	47	38
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Killinchy
Length of Residence	4 years, Residence of Mr. George McClure	38 years, Killinchy
Marriage Place
Folio	13/7846
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas A. Joughin

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).