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 2734

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

3270

23 November 1914

James Reid McGregor
Elizabeth Rosetta Violet Taplin

James Reid McGregor
Elizabeth Rosetta Violet Taplin
💍 1914/9609

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

32
22

Kauroo Hill
Hilderthorpe

30 years
8 years

dwelling of Mr. J. B. Taplin Hilderthorpe

8080

23 November 1914

Rev. P. C. Rennie

No	3270
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Reid McGregor	Elizabeth Rosetta Violet Taplin
	💍 1914/9609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Kauroo Hill	Hilderthorpe
Length of Residence	30 years	8 years
Marriage Place	dwelling of Mr. J. B. Taplin Hilderthorpe
Folio	8080
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Rennie

3271

28 November 1914

John Alexander Donoghue
Sabina Culhane

John Alexander Donoghue
Sabina Culhane
💍 1914/4103

Bachelor
Spinster

Woollen mill worker
Domestic servant

26
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 years
8 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Oamaru

8064

28 November 1914

Registrar of marriages

No	3271
Date of Notice	28 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Donoghue	Sabina Culhane
	💍 1914/4103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woollen mill worker	Domestic servant
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Oamaru
Folio	8064
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages

3272

2 December 1914

Joseph Watts Ross
Violet Mary Hudson

Joseph Watts Ross
Violet Mary Hudson
💍 1914/4214

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Weaver

22
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

22 years
23 years

Wesleyan Church manse Oamaru

8077

2 December 1914

Rev. John A. Lochore

No	3272
Date of Notice	2 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Watts Ross	Violet Mary Hudson
	💍 1914/4214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Weaver
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church manse Oamaru
Folio	8077
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John A. Lochore

3273

9 December 1914

Thomas Miller
Margaret Jack

Thomas Miller
Margaret Jack
💍 1914/4223

Thomas George Nankivell
Margaret Jack
💍 1914/4917

Bachelor
Spinster

Station-master
Milliner

26
24

Milburn
Pukeuri Junction

3 months
2 weeks

residence of Mr. Peter Jack Pukeuri Junction

8068

9 December 1914

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3273
Date of Notice	9 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Miller	Margaret Jack
	💍 1914/4223
BDM Match (67%)	Thomas George Nankivell	Margaret Jack
	💍 1914/4917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station-master	Milliner
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Milburn	Pukeuri Junction
Length of Residence	3 months	2 weeks
Marriage Place	residence of Mr. Peter Jack Pukeuri Junction
Folio	8068
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3274

11 December 1914

Alexander Alfred Cullen
Jessie Smyth

Alexander Alfred Cullen
Jessie Smyth
💍 1914/4235

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal-Clerk
Domestic Duties

29
29

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
29 years

Baptist Church Severn Street Oamaru

8074

11 December 1914

Rev. T. H. Mathieson

No	3274
Date of Notice	11 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Alfred Cullen	Jessie Smyth
	💍 1914/4235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal-Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Severn Street Oamaru
Folio	8074
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Mathieson

3275

11 December 1914

Walter Oliver Don
Margaret Forsyth Marshall

Walter Oliver Dow
Margaret Forsyth Marshall
💍 1914/4231

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

27
23

Windsor
Windsor

27 years
18 months

Windsor Presbyterian Church

8070

11 December 1914

Rev. Henry Clark

No	3275
Date of Notice	11 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Oliver Don	Margaret Forsyth Marshall
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Oliver Dow	Margaret Forsyth Marshall
	💍 1914/4231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Windsor	Windsor
Length of Residence	27 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Windsor Presbyterian Church
Folio	8070
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Clark

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).