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 705

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 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

3135

17 May 1913

Robert Lindsay
Catherine Sheehan

Robert Lindsay
Catherine Sheehan
💍 1913/4329

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

53
29

Ardgowan
Oamaru

7 years
1 month

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

13/3931

17 May 1913

Rev. Monsignor John McKay

No	3135
Date of Notice	17 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lindsay	Catherine Sheehan
	💍 1913/4329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	53	29
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Oamaru
Length of Residence	7 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	13/3931
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Monsignor John McKay

3137

14 May 1913

Sheldon Hugh Cradock
Emily Marion Knight

Sheldon Hugh Cradock
Emily Marion Knight
💍 1913/6448

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

36
23

Present: Oamaru, Usual: Christchurch
Oamaru

3 days
12 years

St. Luke's Church, Oamaru

13/6035

14 May 1913

Rev. John Delacourt Russell

No	3137
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sheldon Hugh Cradock	Emily Marion Knight
	💍 1913/6448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Present: Oamaru, Usual: Christchurch	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Oamaru
Folio	13/6035
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Delacourt Russell

3138

14 May 1913

John Ryley McLean
Elizabeth Mary Dalgleish

John Ryley McLean
Elizabeth Mary Dalgleish
💍 1913/6347

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
32

Allday Bay, Oamaru
Papakaio

31 years at the residence of John Dalgleish
32 years North Road, Oamaru

Residence of John Dalgleish, North Road, Oamaru

13/6107

14 May 1913

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3138
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ryley McLean	Elizabeth Mary Dalgleish
	💍 1913/6347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Allday Bay, Oamaru	Papakaio
Length of Residence	31 years at the residence of John Dalgleish	32 years North Road, Oamaru
Marriage Place	Residence of John Dalgleish, North Road, Oamaru
Folio	13/6107
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3139

16 May 1913

James O'Brien
Ellen Ethel Taylor

James O'Brien
Ellen Ethel Taylor
💍 1913/2807

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

22
20

Ngapara
Enfield

22 years
20 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

13/2503

John Taylor, Father

16 May 1913

Registrar of Marriages

No	3139
Date of Notice	16 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Brien	Ellen Ethel Taylor
	💍 1913/2807
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ngapara	Enfield
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	13/2503
Consent	John Taylor, Father
Date of Certificate	16 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

3140

24 May 1913

Henry Little
Margaret Jane Gibson

Henry Little
Margaret Jane Little Gibson
💍 1913/4346

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
21

Ngapara
Oamaru

31 years
4 years

Residence of Mrs. Jane Davidson, Ardgowan

13/3922

24 May 1913

Rev. William Wright

No	3140
Date of Notice	24 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Little	Margaret Jane Gibson
BDM Match (87%)	Henry Little	Margaret Jane Little Gibson
	💍 1913/4346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Ngapara	Oamaru
Length of Residence	31 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Jane Davidson, Ardgowan
Folio	13/3922
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3141

27 May 1913

Charles Richard Cotterell
Esther Lillian Lee

Charles Richard Cotterell
Esther Lillian Lee
💍 1913/4327

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic duties

31
21

Oamaru
Windsor

4 days
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Elderslie

13/3929

27 May 1913

Rev. Henry Clark

No	3141
Date of Notice	27 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Richard Cotterell	Esther Lillian Lee
	💍 1913/4327
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Windsor
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Elderslie
Folio	13/3929
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Clark

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).