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 3212

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 1923

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

11 September 1923

Richard Doyle Dale
Annie Jane Park

Richard Moyle Dale
Annie Jane Park
💍 1923/5695

Widower
Spinster

Business Manager
Housewife

55
26

Christchurch
Oamaru

5th August 1922
6 weeks

St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

7303

11 September 1923

Rev. William Gray Dixon M.A., Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	11 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Doyle Dale	Annie Jane Park
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Moyle Dale	Annie Jane Park
	💍 1923/5695
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Business Manager	Housewife
Age	55	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Oamaru
Length of Residence	5th August 1922	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	7303
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Gray Dixon M.A., Presbyterian

12 September 1923

Edward George Lane
Mayberry Martha Mitchell

Edward George Lane
Maybery Martha Mitchell
💍 1923/5696

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Manager
Domestic Duties

22
22

Oamaru
Weston

22 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Weston

7304

12 September 1923

Rev. Alexander Watson, Presbyterian

No	63
Date of Notice	12 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Lane	Mayberry Martha Mitchell
BDM Match (98%)	Edward George Lane	Maybery Martha Mitchell
	💍 1923/5696
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Weston
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Weston
Folio	7304
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Watson, Presbyterian

12 September 1923

Russell James Laurenson
Olive Bell Sinclair

Russell James Laurenson
Olive Bell Sinclair
💍 1923/5697

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Lorry Driver
Dental Nurse

22
19

Kakanui
Oamaru

17 years
19 years

Methodist Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

7305

David Sinclair, Father

12 September 1923

Rev. G. T. Stockwell, Methodist

No	64
Date of Notice	12 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Russell James Laurenson	Olive Bell Sinclair
	💍 1923/5697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Lorry Driver	Dental Nurse
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Kakanui	Oamaru
Length of Residence	17 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	7305
Consent	David Sinclair, Father
Date of Certificate	12 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Stockwell, Methodist

13 September 1923

Harold Frank Budd
Anne Elizabeth Penfold

Harold Frank Budd
Anne Elizabeth Penfold
💍 1923/5698

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
33

Balclutha
Oamaru

1 day
6 weeks

Residence of Richard Penfold, Jersey Street, Oamaru

7306

13 September 1923

Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	13 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Frank Budd	Anne Elizabeth Penfold
	💍 1923/5698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Balclutha	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 day	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Richard Penfold, Jersey Street, Oamaru
Folio	7306
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

17 September 1923

Horace Andrew Barron Symon
Christine Wright

Horace Andrew Barron Symon
Christina Wright
💍 1923/5699

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic Duties

21
21

Weston
Inchholme

21 years
21 years

Columba Church, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru

7307

17 September 1923

Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	17 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Andrew Barron Symon	Christine Wright
BDM Match (97%)	Horace Andrew Barron Symon	Christina Wright
	💍 1923/5699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Weston	Inchholme
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Columba Church, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru
Folio	7307
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McLean, 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).