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 2985

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 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

3332

3 July 1915

John George Johnston
Mona Mary McKenzie

John George Johnston
Mona Mary McKenzie
💍 1915/4004

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolteacher
Schoolteacher

24
21

Trentham
Waiareka, Oamaru

3 1/2 months
21 years

Columba Church, Oamaru

6250

3 July 1915

Rev. Lawson Robinson

No	3332
Date of Notice	3 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Johnston	Mona Mary McKenzie
	💍 1915/4004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolteacher	Schoolteacher
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Trentham	Waiareka, Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 1/2 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Columba Church, Oamaru
Folio	6250
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lawson Robinson

3333

21 July 1915

Thomas Scahill
Mary Catherine Philomena Jane Tilligan

Thomas Scahill
Mary Catherine Philomena Jane Gilligan
💍 1915/5647

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
26

Totara
Ngapara

6 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru

7939

21 July 1915

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3333
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scahill	Mary Catherine Philomena Jane Tilligan
BDM Match (99%)	Thomas Scahill	Mary Catherine Philomena Jane Gilligan
	💍 1915/5647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Totara	Ngapara
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru
Folio	7939
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3334

23 July 1915

William Reid
Emily Crocker Fraser

William Reid
Emily Crocker Fraser
💍 1915/4054

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Poultry Farmer

31
42

Papakaio
Papakaio

5 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs. Emily Crocker Fraser, Papakaio Gully

6225

23 July 1915

Rev. George William Hunt

No	3334
Date of Notice	23 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Reid	Emily Crocker Fraser
	💍 1915/4054
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Poultry Farmer
Age	31	42
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Papakaio
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Emily Crocker Fraser, Papakaio Gully
Folio	6225
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. George William Hunt

3336

4 August 1915

Charles Gordon Mitchell
Adeline Kerr

Charles Gordon Mitchell
Adeline Kerr
💍 1915/4056

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
6 months

Residence of Mr. William Kerr, Humber Street, Oamaru

6227

4 August 1915

Rev. William Nichol

No	3336
Date of Notice	4 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Gordon Mitchell	Adeline Kerr
	💍 1915/4056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. William Kerr, Humber Street, Oamaru
Folio	6227
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Nichol

3337

4 August 1915

Alexander Falls
Janie Carlyon

Alexander Falls
Janie Carlyon
💍 1915/4057

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

25
26

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
26 years

Church of Christ, Oamaru

6228

4 August 1915

Rev. T. H. Mathieson

No	3337
Date of Notice	4 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Falls	Janie Carlyon
	💍 1915/4057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Oamaru
Folio	6228
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Mathieson

3338

6 August 1915

William Hugh Stanley Widdowson
Gladys Fanny Louise Barley

William Hugh Stanley Widdowson
Gladys Fanny Louise Barley
💍 1915/4058

Bachelor
Spinster

Lieutenant
Musician

24
23

Waikanae
Oamaru

3 months
10 years

St. Lukes Church, Oamaru

6229

6 August 1915

Rev. J. D. Russell

No	3338
Date of Notice	6 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hugh Stanley Widdowson	Gladys Fanny Louise Barley
	💍 1915/4058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lieutenant	Musician
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Waikanae	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 months	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church, Oamaru
Folio	6229
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Russell

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).