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 2723

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Alexander Adam Innes

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

3226

2 June 1914

Humphrey George Hanmer
Beatrice Winnifred Sumpter

Humphrey George Hanmer
Beatrice Winifred Sumpter
💍 1914/980

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Station Manager
Hospital Nurse

28
36

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
4 years

St Luke's Anglican Church Oamaru

4552

2 June 1914

Rev. J. D. Russell

No	3226
Date of Notice	2 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Humphrey George Hanmer	Beatrice Winnifred Sumpter
BDM Match (98%)	Humphrey George Hanmer	Beatrice Winifred Sumpter
	💍 1914/980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Station Manager	Hospital Nurse
Age	28	36
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Oamaru
Folio	4552
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Russell

3227

2 June 1914

Robert William Brown
Jane Cathcart Sim

Robert William Brown
Jane Cathcart Sim
💍 1914/804

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
School Teacher

29
30

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

St Pauls Presbyterian Church Oamaru

4444

2 June 1914

Rev. Robert J. Porter

No	3227
Date of Notice	2 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Brown	Jane Cathcart Sim
	💍 1914/804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	School Teacher
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church Oamaru
Folio	4444
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert J. Porter

3228

5 June 1914

Harold Desmond Bailey
Muriel Margaret Smith

Harold Desmond Bailey
Muriel Margaret Smith
💍 1914/5836

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

36
34

Kauroo Hill
Timaru

5 years
25 years

Residence of Mr Charles Montague Smith, Timaru

3371

5 June 1914

Ven. Archdeacon Jacob

No	3228
Date of Notice	5 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Desmond Bailey	Muriel Margaret Smith
	💍 1914/5836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Kauroo Hill	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Charles Montague Smith, Timaru
Folio	3371
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Jacob

3229

16 June 1914

David Taylor
Helen Jane Hall

David Taylor
Helen Jane Hall
💍 1914/6151

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

43
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages Oamaru

3687

16 June 1914

Registrar of marriages

No	3229
Date of Notice	16 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Taylor	Helen Jane Hall
	💍 1914/6151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Oamaru
Folio	3687
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages

3230

17 June 1914

James Aitchison
Margaret Maria Selman

James Aitchison
Margaret Maria Selman
💍 1914/2953

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

33
32

Awamoko
Georgetown

33 years
32 years

Residence of Mrs J. E. Selman Georgetown

6656

17 June 1914

Rev. Alexr Sangster

No	3230
Date of Notice	17 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Aitchison	Margaret Maria Selman
	💍 1914/2953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Awamoko	Georgetown
Length of Residence	33 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. E. Selman Georgetown
Folio	6656
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexr Sangster

3231

22 June 1914

Arthur John Victor Herbert
Gertrude Edith Jordan

Arthur John Victor Herbert
Gertrude Edith Jordan
💍 1914/1345

Bachelor
Spinster

Masons' Laborer
Household duties

23
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

19 months
2 months

Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru

4741

22 June 1914

Rev. Edmund Lynch

No	3231
Date of Notice	22 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Victor Herbert	Gertrude Edith Jordan
	💍 1914/1345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Masons' Laborer	Household duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	19 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru
Folio	4741
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edmund Lynch

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).