Intentions to Marry, 1918 Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840480, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 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.

1918f contains pages 2189-2777, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Page 2528

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 June 1918 Registrar J. Logan

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

27 April 1918

William Garfield Clark
Eliza Mabel Weller

William Garfield Clark
Eliza Mabel Weller
💍 1918/3745

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Saleswoman

27
27

Oamaru
Oamaru

5 days
27 years

Residence of William Hurstwood, Eden Street, Oamaru

3126

27 May 1918

Rev. Samuel Fowler Hunter, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	27 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Garfield Clark	Eliza Mabel Weller
	💍 1918/3745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Saleswoman
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	5 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Hurstwood, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	3126
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Fowler Hunter, Presbyterian

1 June 1918

Joseph Richard Cleave
Martha Isabella Milne

Joseph Richard Cleave
Martha Isabella Milne
💍 1918/3756

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
29

Hakataramea
Oamaru

6 years
3 days

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

3127

1 June 1918

Rev. John Craig, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	1 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Richard Cleave	Martha Isabella Milne
	💍 1918/3756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Hakataramea	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	3127
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Craig, Presbyterian

4 June 1918

Timothy Leary
Honora McLaughlin

Timothy Leary
Honora McLoughlin
💍 1918/3762

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
29

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
3 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Reed Street, Oamaru

3128

4 June 1918

Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

No	13
Date of Notice	4 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Leary	Honora McLaughlin
BDM Match (97%)	Timothy Leary	Honora McLoughlin
	💍 1918/3762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Reed Street, Oamaru
Folio	3128
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

5 June 1918

Alexander McNab
Jeannie Cole

Alexander McNab
Jeannie Cole
💍 1918/3763

Bachelor
Widow (26/2/17)

Soldier
Nurse

36
36

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
4 days

Residence of Rev. Joseph Lawson Robinson, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru

3129

5 June 1918

Rev. Joseph Lawson Robinson, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	5 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McNab	Jeannie Cole
	💍 1918/3763
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (26/2/17)
Profession	Soldier	Nurse
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. Joseph Lawson Robinson, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru
Folio	3129
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Lawson Robinson, Presbyterian

14 June 1918

William Henry Westphal
Mary Beardmore

William Henry Westphal
Mary Beardsmore
💍 1918/3764

Widower (17/7/16)
Spinster

Inspector Permanent Way N.Z. Railways
Milliner

53
38

Oamaru
Oamaru

11 years
4 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

3130

14 June 1918

Rev. Samuel Fowler Hunter, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	14 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Westphal	Mary Beardmore
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry Westphal	Mary Beardsmore
	💍 1918/3764
Condition	Widower (17/7/16)	Spinster
Profession	Inspector Permanent Way N.Z. Railways	Milliner
Age	53	38
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	11 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	3130
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Fowler Hunter, Presbyterian

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).