Birkenhead is a suburb of
North
Shore
, one of several cities in the Auckland
metropolitan
area in northern New
Zealand
. It is located on the north shore of the
Waitemata
Harbour
, four kilometres northwest of the Auckland city
centre.
Birkenhead was a city until amalgamated into North Shore City;
prior to that it was a
borough. As a city
and borough it included areas known as: Birkenhead Point, Highbury,
Chatswood, Verrans Corner, Birkdale and Beach Haven.Since
amalgamation took place, it is less clear whether "Birkenhead"
includes Verrans Corner, Birkdale and Beach Haven.
The
southern part of the suburb is known as Birkenhead Point and lies
on a promontory between Chelsea Bay and Little Shoal Bay, one
kilometre to the west of the northern approaches to the Auckland Harbour
Bridge
. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Northcote
and Highbury to the north and Chelsea and Chatswood
to the west.
History
Birkenhead
was described as "wild and bleak" by the New Zealand Herald in 1883, as it
was isolated from the city of Auckland by the
harbour, and was little occupied. However, in 1882 it
was chosen as the site of New Zealand's only sugar refinery, and in
1883 work began on what was later known as the Chelsea Sugar
Refinery
. The company built houses for its many new
workers and thus the suburb of Birkenhead began. The Refinery was
the main source of work for the area for many years, and still
operates today.
Once the site of ancient
kauri
forests, Birkenhead was the site of temporary
gum-diggers' camps: as men and women sought to
dig up the lucrative fossilied
resin.
Auckland
families would cross the Waitemata Harbour by ferry at weekends to dig in the fields around
Birkenhead, causing damage to public roads and private farms, and
leading to local council management of the problem.
In 1883 a farm estate called "Mayfield" was auctioned and
subsequently subdivided for housing sections. Birkenhead was
probably named after the town of the same name across the River
Mersey from the city of Liverpool, developed during the middle of
the 19th century by ship builder "John Laird".
The English Birkenhead
was noted for its elegant and expensive houses, its
sea views and its charmingly laid out picturesque park copied by
New York's Central
Park
.
Birkenhead was one of several areas on the North Shore popular as a
location for the homes of successful middle class people. These
men, usually professionals or business owners, would use the
Auckland Harbour Ferry Services to commute to Auckland. The wharves
at Devonport, Northcote and Birkenhead were very busy until the
construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959 changed things
forever. The ferry to Birkenhead was resumed in the 1980s and since
the increase in congestion on the bridge, the usage of the
Birkenhead Ferry has grown considerably.
Famous people
- Clement Lindley Wragge,
the meteorologist who began the tradition of using people's names
for cyclones lived his final years at 8
Awanui Street, Birkenhead and planted palms in his, and
neighbours', gardens.
- Hayward family - Henry the father was an entrepreneur - his
house stands on Hinemoa Street, Birkenhead Point;
- Son Rudall was an early NZ film-maker, producing Rewi's Last Stand (see Cinema of New Zealand)
- Hone Tuwhare, the poet, was briefly
a Birkenhead Borough Councillor
Education
Birkenhead School and Verran Primary School are coeducational
contributing primary (years 1-6) schools with a
decile rating of 10 and 7, and rolls
of 341 and 243 respectively. Birkenhead School was founded in 1919
as an extension of
Northcote
School. Verran Primary School was founded in 1964.
References
- The Heart of Colonial Auckland, 1865-1910. Terence
Hodgson. Random Century NZ Ltd 1992.
- The Story of Birkenhead. Margaret McClure. Birkenhead
City Council 1987. 223 pages.
See also
External links
Wikis
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