Intentions to Marry, 1914 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840456, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 2713

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1914 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

3189

12 January 1914

Ernest Vernon
Dora Frances Faris

Ernest Vernor
Dora Frances Foris
💍 1914/8238

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Dressmaker

27
32

Oamaru
Oamaru

27 years
32 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

1731

12 January 1914

Rev. William James Williams

No	3189
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Vernon	Dora Frances Faris
BDM Match (93%)	Ernest Vernor	Dora Frances Foris
	💍 1914/8238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Dressmaker
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	27 years	32 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	1731
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. William James Williams

3190

13 January 1914

Charles Christie
Lyall Lindsay Wright

Charles Christie
Lyall Lindsay Wright
💍 1914/8237

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

43
25

Saddle Hill
Oamaru

8 years
19 years

In the Columba Church Manse, Hull Street, Oamaru

1730

13 January 1914

Rev. William Wright

No	3190
Date of Notice	13 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Christie	Lyall Lindsay Wright
	💍 1914/8237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	43	25
Dwelling Place	Saddle Hill	Oamaru
Length of Residence	8 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Columba Church Manse, Hull Street, Oamaru
Folio	1730
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3191

14 January 1914

Samuel Jackson
Mary Brown

Samuel Jackson
Mary Brown
💍 1914/8239

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolteacher
Dressmaker

25
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
18 days

Methodist Church Manse, Oamaru

1732

14 January 1914

Rev. William J. Williams

No	3191
Date of Notice	14 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Jackson	Mary Brown
	💍 1914/8239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolteacher	Dressmaker
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	18 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Manse, Oamaru
Folio	1732
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. William J. Williams

3192

20 January 1914

Robert Hunter Wade
Mary Wilson

Robert Hunter Wade
Mary Wilson
💍 1914/796

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolteacher
Domestic duties

35
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
25 years

Residence of Mrs Isabella Wilson, Eden Street, Oamaru

4436

20 January 1914

Rev. Robert J. Porter

No	3192
Date of Notice	20 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hunter Wade	Mary Wilson
	💍 1914/796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolteacher	Domestic duties
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Isabella Wilson, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	4436
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert J. Porter

3193

20 January 1914

George Dunn
Isabella Padkin

George Dunn
Isabella Padkin
💍 1914/8241

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

33
36

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 weeks
36 years

Presbyterian Church, Eveline

1734

20 January 1914

Rev. Robert J. Porter

No	3193
Date of Notice	20 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dunn	Isabella Padkin
	💍 1914/8241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 weeks	36 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Eveline
Folio	1734
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert J. Porter

3194

28 January 1914

Robert Smyth
Rebekah McKenzie

Robert Smyth
Rebekah McKenzie
💍 1914/8240

Widower
Widow

Retired Railway Servant
Confectioner

67
47

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
7 years

Wesleyan Church Manse, Oamaru

1733

28 January 1914

Rev. William James Williams

No	3194
Date of Notice	28 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Smyth	Rebekah McKenzie
	💍 1914/8240
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Retired Railway Servant	Confectioner
Age	67	47
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Manse, Oamaru
Folio	1733
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. William James Williams

3195

31 January 1914

John Collett
Eva Kimm

John Collett
Eva Kimm
💍 1914/8242

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

23
17

Oamaru
Oamaru

23 years
7 years

Residence of Mr James Kimm, Lune Street, Oamaru

1735

James Kimm, Father

31 January 1914

Rev. John Delacourt Russell

No	3195
Date of Notice	31 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Collett	Eva Kimm
	💍 1914/8242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	23 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr James Kimm, Lune Street, Oamaru
Folio	1735
Consent	James Kimm, Father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Delacourt Russell

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).