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 2733

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 December 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

3264

2 November 1914

Colin Sinclair
Margaret Strachan

Colin Sinclair
Margaret Strachan
💍 1914/4087

Bachelor
Widow

Mechanic
Confectioner

25
56

Oamaru
Oamaru

1 year
30 years

Dwelling house of Mr Jack Towers, Humber Street, Oamaru

7974

2 November 1914

Rev. John Alex Lochore

No	3264
Date of Notice	2 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Sinclair	Margaret Strachan
	💍 1914/4087
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mechanic	Confectioner
Age	25	56
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 year	30 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr Jack Towers, Humber Street, Oamaru
Folio	7974
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Alex Lochore

3265

7 November 1914

William Warwick Montgomery
Arthurina Eugina Ellen Flannery

William Warwick Montgomery
Arthurina Eugina Ellen Flannery
💍 1914/4232

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

26
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

26 years
12 months

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

8071

Elizabeth Mary Teresa Frazer, mother

7 November 1914

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3265
Date of Notice	7 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Warwick Montgomery	Arthurina Eugina Ellen Flannery
	💍 1914/4232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	26 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	8071
Consent	Elizabeth Mary Teresa Frazer, mother
Date of Certificate	7 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3266

10 November 1914

James Robertson
Ruby Elizabeth Johnston

James Robertson
Ruth Elizabeth Johnston
💍 1914/4102

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

32
19

Steward Settlement
Steward Settlement

3 years
2 1/2 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

8063

Maude Kempton, guardian as provided by Sec 27 of the Industrial Schools Act 1908

10 November 1914

Registrar of marriages

No	3266
Date of Notice	10 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robertson	Ruby Elizabeth Johnston
BDM Match (96%)	James Robertson	Ruth Elizabeth Johnston
	💍 1914/4102
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Steward Settlement	Steward Settlement
Length of Residence	3 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	8063
Consent	Maude Kempton, guardian as provided by Sec 27 of the Industrial Schools Act 1908
Date of Certificate	10 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages

3267

10 November 1914

John Morgan Chalmers
Christina Menzies

John Morgan Chalmers
Christina Menzies
💍 1914/4111

Widower
Spinster

Cycle Agent
Domestic Duties

37
23

Oamaru
Hakataramea

24 years
23 years

Residence of Mr James Menzies, Hakataramea

8049

10 November 1914

Rev. Thomas Neave

No	3267
Date of Notice	10 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morgan Chalmers	Christina Menzies
	💍 1914/4111
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Hakataramea
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr James Menzies, Hakataramea
Folio	8049
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Neave

3268

11 November 1914

William Henry Dickson
Christina Ross

William Henry Dickson
Christina Ross
💍 1914/4216

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic Duties

27
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
20 years

Residence of Mr John Ross, Greta Street, Oamaru

8079

11 November 1914

Rev. William Wright

No	3268
Date of Notice	11 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Dickson	Christina Ross
	💍 1914/4216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic Duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Ross, Greta Street, Oamaru
Folio	8079
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3269

16 November 1914

George Arthur Mitchell
Annie Crawshaw

George Arthur Mitchell
Annie Craushaw
💍 1914/4215

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

32
33

Newborough
Oamaru

22 years
33 years

Dwelling of Mr Samuel Crawshaw, Reed Street, Oamaru

8078

16 November 1914

Rev. John A. Lochore

No	3269
Date of Notice	16 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Mitchell	Annie Crawshaw
BDM Match (96%)	George Arthur Mitchell	Annie Craushaw
	💍 1914/4215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Newborough	Oamaru
Length of Residence	22 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Samuel Crawshaw, Reed Street, Oamaru
Folio	8078
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John A. Lochore

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).