Intentions to Marry, 1923 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840519, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1923 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1923e contains pages 3085-3502, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3217

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 December 1923 Registrar H. Kerr

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

3 November 1923

Francis Michael Doyle
Margaret Wharton

Francis Michael Doyle
Margaret Wharton
💍 1923/7518

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
19

Oamaru
Oamaru

1 year
19 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

9796

John Wharton, Father

5 November 1923

Rev. R. Graham, Roman Catholic

No	79
Date of Notice	3 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Michael Doyle	Margaret Wharton
	💍 1923/7518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 year	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	9796
Consent	John Wharton, Father
Date of Certificate	5 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Graham, Roman Catholic

17 November 1923

John Edward McNuely
Bella Meehan

John Edward McNulty
Bella Meehan
💍 1923/7519

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Dressmaker

31
29

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 years
29 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

9797

17 November 1923

Rev. A. Fenelon, Roman Catholic

No	80
Date of Notice	17 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward McNuely	Bella Meehan
BDM Match (95%)	John Edward McNulty	Bella Meehan
	💍 1923/7519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Dressmaker
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	9797
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Fenelon, Roman Catholic

19 November 1923

Edward McGrath
Lily Hollow

Edward McGrath
Lily Hollow
💍 1923/7520

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Hand
Domestic

28
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

28 years
20 years

Columba Church, Oamaru

9798

James Hollow, Father

19 November 1923

Rev. G. W. Hunt, Presbyterian

No	81
Date of Notice	19 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward McGrath	Lily Hollow
	💍 1923/7520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Hand	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	28 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Columba Church, Oamaru
Folio	9798
Consent	James Hollow, Father
Date of Certificate	19 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Hunt, Presbyterian

19 November 1923

Daniel Greaney
Jane Robertson Berry

Daniel Greaney
Jane Robertson Berry
💍 1923/7521

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

37
43

Oamaru
Oamaru

27 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru

9799

19 November 1923

Rev. A. Fenelon, Roman Catholic

No	82
Date of Notice	19 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Greaney	Jane Robertson Berry
	💍 1923/7521
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	43
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	27 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Basilica, Oamaru
Folio	9799
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Fenelon, Roman Catholic

23 November 1923

Henry Hartley Wilson
Mary Brown

Henry Hartley Wilson
Mary Brown
💍 1923/5440

Edward Johnston
Mary Brown
💍 1923/7158

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook
Assistant Librarian

31
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

25 years
3 weeks

Church of Christ, Oamaru

9800

23 November 1923

Rev. R. Robertson, Church of Christ

No	83
Date of Notice	23 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hartley Wilson	Mary Brown
	💍 1923/5440
BDM Match (60%)	Edward Johnston	Mary Brown
	💍 1923/7158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook	Assistant Librarian
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	25 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Oamaru
Folio	9800
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Robertson, Church of Christ

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).