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 2722

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

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

3220

12 May 1914

John Stiven
Margaret Simpson

John Stiven
Margaret Simpson
💍 1914/6160

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard-room Proprietor
Domestic Duties

39
27

Papakaio
Papakaio

3 days
5 months

Presbyterian Church Peebles

3695

13 May 1914

Rev. John Stevens

No	3220
Date of Notice	12 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stiven	Margaret Simpson
	💍 1914/6160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard-room Proprietor	Domestic Duties
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Papakaio
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Peebles
Folio	3695
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Stevens

3221

16 May 1914

Alexander Telfer Morgan
Ellen Louisa Watson

Alexander Telfer Morgan
Ellen Louisa Watson
💍 1914/6157

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

34
23

Oamaru
Ngapara

7 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church Ngapara

3693

16 May 1914

Rev. Henry Clark

No	3221
Date of Notice	16 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Telfer Morgan	Ellen Louisa Watson
	💍 1914/6157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Ngapara
Length of Residence	7 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Ngapara
Folio	3693
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Clark

3222

22 May 1914

Samuel James Kennedy
Jessie Shaw

Samuel James Kennedy
Jessie Shaw
💍 1914/6163

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

40
32

Kia Ora
Incholme

7 years
32 years

In the residence of Mrs Julia Shaw Incholme

3698

22 May 1914

Rev. James C. Paterson

No	3222
Date of Notice	22 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Kennedy	Jessie Shaw
	💍 1914/6163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	40	32
Dwelling Place	Kia Ora	Incholme
Length of Residence	7 years	32 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs Julia Shaw Incholme
Folio	3698
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James C. Paterson

3223

26 May 1914

John Padkin
Jessie Katherine Burnett

John Padkin
Jessie Catherine Burnett
💍 1914/6161

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Owner
Domestic Duties

33
55

Oamaru
Peebles

33 years
25 years

Private dwelling of Ann Jane Burnett Peebles

3696

26 May 1914

Rev. John Steven

No	3223
Date of Notice	26 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Padkin	Jessie Katherine Burnett
BDM Match (98%)	John Padkin	Jessie Catherine Burnett
	💍 1914/6161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Owner	Domestic Duties
Age	33	55
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Peebles
Length of Residence	33 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Private dwelling of Ann Jane Burnett Peebles
Folio	3696
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

3224

27 May 1914

Thomas Williams
Ellen Hair

Thomas Williams
Ellen Hair
💍 1914/987

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

34
33

Waiareka Jctn
Waiareka Jctn

34 years
20 years

Private dwelling of James Hair Waiareka Jctn

4553

27 May 1914

Rev. James Delacourt Russell

No	3224
Date of Notice	27 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Williams	Ellen Hair
	💍 1914/987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Waiareka Jctn	Waiareka Jctn
Length of Residence	34 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Private dwelling of James Hair Waiareka Jctn
Folio	4553
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Delacourt Russell

3225

27 May 1914

Frank Rusbatch
Margaret Christina Craig

Frank Rushbatch
Margaret Christina Craig
💍 1914/801

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic Duties

24
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

23 years
5 days

St Pauls Church Oamaru

4441

27 May 1914

Rev. Robert J. Porter

No	3225
Date of Notice	27 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Rusbatch	Margaret Christina Craig
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Rushbatch	Margaret Christina Craig
	💍 1914/801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	23 years	5 days
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Oamaru
Folio	4441
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert 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).