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 2726

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 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

3238

31 July 1914

Robert Andrews
Elizabeth Macdonald

Robert Andrews
Elizabeth MacDonald
💍 1914/2709

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

25
35

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru

6511

31 July 1914

Rev. Alexr. Farthing

No	3238
Date of Notice	31 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Andrews	Elizabeth Macdonald
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Andrews	Elizabeth MacDonald
	💍 1914/2709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	35
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru
Folio	6511
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexr. Farthing

3239

31 July 1914

John Boyle
Norah Granger

John Boyle
Nora Granger
💍 1914/2708

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Richmond
Oamaru

29 years
25 years

Residence of Mr. Edward Boyle, Richmond

6510

31 July 1914

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3239
Date of Notice	31 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyle	Norah Granger
BDM Match (96%)	John Boyle	Nora Granger
	💍 1914/2708
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Oamaru
Length of Residence	29 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Edward Boyle, Richmond
Folio	6510
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3241

10 August 1914

William Sheldon Telfer
Wilhelmena Anderson

William Sheldon Telfer
Wilhelmina Anderson
💍 1914/2712

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

27
24

Enfield
Enfield

27 years
11 years

Residence of Mr. James Stuart Anderson, Enfield

6514

10 August 1914

Rev. J. D. Wilson

No	3241
Date of Notice	10 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sheldon Telfer	Wilhelmena Anderson
BDM Match (97%)	William Sheldon Telfer	Wilhelmina Anderson
	💍 1914/2712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	27 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Stuart Anderson, Enfield
Folio	6514
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Wilson

3242

15 August 1914

John Kidd
Olive Robertson

John Ridd
Olive Robertson
💍 1914/2713

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

30
25

Oamaru
Weston

7 days
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Weston

6515

15 August 1914

Rev. J. D. Wilson

No	3242
Date of Notice	15 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kidd	Olive Robertson
BDM Match (94%)	John Ridd	Olive Robertson
	💍 1914/2713
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Weston
Length of Residence	7 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Weston
Folio	6515
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Wilson

3243

19 August 1914

Thomas Jones
Emily Louisa Badeley

Thomas Jones
Emily Louisa Badeley
💍 1914/2715

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

32
42

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 months
42 years

Private dwelling of Miss Emily Louisa Badeley, Chelmer Street, Oamaru

6517

19 August 1914

Rev. Robert J. Porter

No	3243
Date of Notice	19 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jones	Emily Louisa Badeley
	💍 1914/2715
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	42
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 months	42 years
Marriage Place	Private dwelling of Miss Emily Louisa Badeley, Chelmer Street, Oamaru
Folio	6517
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert J. Porter

3244

22 August 1914

William John Gordon
Annie Bullen

William John Gordon
Annie Bullen
💍 1914/4094

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

23
25

Ardgowan
Oamaru

23 years
10 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

8056

22 August 1914

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	3244
Date of Notice	22 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Gordon	Annie Bullen
	💍 1914/4094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Oamaru
Length of Residence	23 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	8056
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

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).