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 2714

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar A. A. M. [illegible]

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

3196

11 February 1914

Arthur Rennie Watson
Amy Bessie Reid

Arthur Rennie Watson
Amy Bessie Reid
💍 1914/8219

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Domestic Duties

33
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
28 years

In St. Luke's Church Oamaru

1736

11 February 1914

Rev. John Delacourt Russell

No	3196
Date of Notice	11 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Rennie Watson	Amy Bessie Reid
	💍 1914/8219
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church Oamaru
Folio	1736
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Delacourt Russell

3197

17 February 1914

Joseph Edgar
Jean Harkness

Joseph Edgar
Jean Harkness
💍 1914/8220

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's assistant
Dressmaker

22
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

12 months
9 years

St. Luke's Church Oamaru

1737

17 February 1914

Rev. D. Jamieson

No	3197
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edgar	Jean Harkness
	💍 1914/8220
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's assistant	Dressmaker
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	12 months	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Oamaru
Folio	1737
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Jamieson

3198

19 February 1914

William Thomas Tweltree Johnston
Daisy May Whitaker

William Thomas Tweltree Johnston
Daisy May Whitaker
💍 1914/6566

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

21
17

Oamaru
Oamaru

21 years
5 years

At the office of the Registrar of marriages Oamaru

367

Thomas Frederick Whitaker Father

19 February 1914

Registrar of marriages

No	3198
Date of Notice	19 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Tweltree Johnston	Daisy May Whitaker
	💍 1914/6566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	21 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of marriages Oamaru
Folio	367
Consent	Thomas Frederick Whitaker Father
Date of Certificate	19 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages

3199

20 February 1914

Thomas Samuel Paris
Jane Bell

Thomas Samuel Faris
Jane Bell
💍 1914/795

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Woollen Weaver

36
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

33 years
21 years

In the house of Mr Robert Bell, Ouse Street, Oamaru

4435

20 February 1914

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	3199
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Samuel Paris	Jane Bell
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Samuel Faris	Jane Bell
	💍 1914/795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Woollen Weaver
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	33 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Robert Bell, Ouse Street, Oamaru
Folio	4435
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

3200

26 February 1914

Richard Bean
Olive May Cox

Richard Bean
Olive May Cox
💍 1914/6567

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

21
18

Enfield
Enfield

2 1/2 years
18 years

In the office of the Registrar of marriages Oamaru

368

George Henry Cox Father see attached

26 February 1914

Registrar of Marriages

No	3200
Date of Notice	26 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Bean	Olive May Cox
	💍 1914/6567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of marriages Oamaru
Folio	368
Consent	George Henry Cox Father see attached
Date of Certificate	26 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

3201

3 March 1914

Michael Thomas Healey
Mary Jane Pringle Stewart Grosset Paterson

Michael Thomas Healey
Mary Jane Stewart Grossit Paterson
💍 1914/8223

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

23
20

Oamaru
South Oamaru

15 months
20 years

St Patrick's Basilica Oamaru

1740

George Patterson see attached

3 March 1914

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3201
Date of Notice	3 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Thomas Healey	Mary Jane Pringle Stewart Grosset Paterson
BDM Match (89%)	Michael Thomas Healey	Mary Jane Stewart Grossit Paterson
	💍 1914/8223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	South Oamaru
Length of Residence	15 months	20 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Basilica Oamaru
Folio	1740
Consent	George Patterson see attached
Date of Certificate	3 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3202

10 March 1914

Roger Prosser
Violet Elsie Barbara Martin

Roger Prosser
Violet Elsie Barbara Martin
💍 1914/8222

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

24
26

Alma
Deborah

3 days
26 years

At the residence of Mr Peter Martin Deborah

1739

10 March 1914

Rev. J. D. Wilson

No	3202
Date of Notice	10 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roger Prosser	Violet Elsie Barbara Martin
	💍 1914/8222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Alma	Deborah
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Peter Martin Deborah
Folio	1739
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Wilson

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).