Intentions to Marry, 1915 Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840462, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915f contains pages 2619-3266, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Page 2977

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Alexander Adam Main

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

3297

03 March 1915

Henry Wybert Friedman
Mary Isabel Campbell

Henry Wgbert Friedman
May Isabel Campbell
💍 1915/9202

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

28
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
8 days

St Pauls Presbyterian Church Oamaru

1433

03 March 1915

Rev. William Nichol

No	3297
Date of Notice	03 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wybert Friedman	Mary Isabel Campbell
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Wgbert Friedman	May Isabel Campbell
	💍 1915/9202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church Oamaru
Folio	1433
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Nichol

3298

09 March 1915

Ernest Shepherd
Mary Fleming Shanks

Ernest Shepherd
Mary Fleming Shanks
💍 1915/9183

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook
Nurse

25
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

Church of Christ Oamaru

1438

09 March 1915

Rev. P. H. Mathieson

No	3298
Date of Notice	09 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Shepherd	Mary Fleming Shanks
	💍 1915/9183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook	Nurse
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of Christ Oamaru
Folio	1438
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. H. Mathieson

3299

09 March 1915

Archibald Campbell Weir Watson
Jessie Ann Melville Blair

Archibald Campbell Weir Watson
Jessie Ann Melville Blair
💍 1915/9184

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic

31
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

1 year
3 weeks

Residence of Mr J. Searle Lorne Street Oamaru

1439

09 March 1915

Rev. Lawson Robinson

No	3299
Date of Notice	09 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Campbell Weir Watson	Jessie Ann Melville Blair
	💍 1915/9184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 year	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. Searle Lorne Street Oamaru
Folio	1439
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lawson Robinson

3300

16 March 1915

John Craigie Kirkness
Mary Jane Taylor

John Craigie Kirkness
Mary Jane Taylor
💍 1915/9201

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent
Domestic Duties

28
37

Newborough Oamaru
Kokoamo

2 months
32 years

Residence of Mr James Taylor Kokoamo

1432

16 March 1915

Rev. H. Clark

No	3300
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Craigie Kirkness	Mary Jane Taylor
	💍 1915/9201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	28	37
Dwelling Place	Newborough Oamaru	Kokoamo
Length of Residence	2 months	32 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr James Taylor Kokoamo
Folio	1432
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Clark

3301

20 March 1915

William Halvorsen
Annie Rebecca Crisp

William Halvorsen
Annie Rebecca Crisp
💍 1915/9174

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller
Shop Assistant

33
21

Oamaru
Waiareka

10 years
21 years

St Luke's Church Oamaru

1428

20 March 1915

Rev. J. D. Russell

No	3301
Date of Notice	20 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Halvorsen	Annie Rebecca Crisp
	💍 1915/9174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller	Shop Assistant
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Waiareka
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church Oamaru
Folio	1428
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Russell

3302

27 March 1915

Herbert Ernest Williams
Gladys Emma Mary Carter

Herbert Ernest Williams
Gladys Emma Mary Carter
💍 1915/2265

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
28

Awamoa
Oamaru

28 years
25 years

dwelling house of Mr Samuel M. Carter, New Street Oamaru

4169

27 March 1915

Rev. J. D. Russell

No	3302
Date of Notice	27 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Ernest Williams	Gladys Emma Mary Carter
	💍 1915/2265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Awamoa	Oamaru
Length of Residence	28 years	25 years
Marriage Place	dwelling house of Mr Samuel M. Carter, New Street Oamaru
Folio	4169
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Russell

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).