Intentions to Marry, 1917 Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840474, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 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.

1917f contains pages 2197-2786, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Page 2529

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1917 Registrar J. T. Farrad

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

3452

29 January 1917

Major Harry Iremonger
Emma Hanbery Paterson

Major Harry Iremonger
Emma Hamberg Paterson
💍 1917/2187

Bachelor
Widow

Painter
Domestic duties

39
38

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 weeks

Dwellinghouse of Alfred Reah, Avon Street, Oamaru

1349

29 January 1917

Rev John A. Lochore

No	3452
Date of Notice	29 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Major Harry Iremonger	Emma Hanbery Paterson
BDM Match (95%)	Major Harry Iremonger	Emma Hamberg Paterson
	💍 1917/2187
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Painter	Domestic duties
Age	39	38
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Alfred Reah, Avon Street, Oamaru
Folio	1349
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev John A. Lochore

3453

3 February 1917

Edward Charles Wyatt Blackmuir
Doris Mary Turtle

Edward Charles Wyatt Blackmur
Doris Mary Turtle
💍 1917/6657

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
18

Ardgowan
Pukeuri

10 weeks
13 years

Registrar's Office, Oamaru

1350

Alexander Turtle, Father

3 February 1917

Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	3453
Date of Notice	3 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Charles Wyatt Blackmuir	Doris Mary Turtle
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Charles Wyatt Blackmur	Doris Mary Turtle
	💍 1917/6657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Pukeuri
Length of Residence	10 weeks	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Oamaru
Folio	1350
Consent	Alexander Turtle, Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

3454

19 February 1917

Thomas Francis Gallagher
Katherine Leen

Thomas Francis Gallagher
Katherine Leen
💍 1917/6668

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
23

Kakanui
Kakanui

29 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Reed St, Oamaru

1351

19 February 1917

Right Rev. Monsignor John Mackay

No	3454
Date of Notice	19 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Gallagher	Katherine Leen
	💍 1917/6668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Kakanui	Kakanui
Length of Residence	29 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Reed St, Oamaru
Folio	1351
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Monsignor John Mackay

3455

5 March 1917

Charles Gordon Nicol
Henrietta Bond

Charles Gordon Nicol
Henrietta Bond
💍 1917/6677

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Domestic duties

25
24

Auckland
Oamaru

4 months
24 years

Dwellinghouse of Alfred Bond, 4 Itchen St, Oamaru

1355

5 March 1917

Rev. George Howard Lawrence

No	3455
Date of Notice	5 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Gordon Nicol	Henrietta Bond
	💍 1917/6677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Alfred Bond, 4 Itchen St, Oamaru
Folio	1355
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Howard Lawrence

3456

6 March 1917

Samuel Kennedy
Alice White

Samuel Kennedy
Alice White
💍 1917/6674

Bachelor
Widow

Shepherd
Domestic duties

44
39

Kauroo
Oamaru

9 months
8 months

Registrar's Office, Oamaru

1352

6 March 1917

Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	3456
Date of Notice	6 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Kennedy	Alice White
	💍 1917/6674
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	44	39
Dwelling Place	Kauroo	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Oamaru
Folio	1352
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

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).