Frederick Morris Block (1-15 Birkenhead Avenue)

Frederick Morris was an English settler who arrived in New Zealand in 1908 with his wife and two children. He lived initially in Mount Roskill but subsequently moved to Mount Eden, where he served on the borough council for seven years. In April 1929, he relocated to Birkenhead and immediately became involved in local politics. He was elected to the Birkenhead Borough Council in February 1930 and ran for mayor the next year, although he did not win. In 1933, he was re-elected to the council and was hand-picked by the incumbent to run for mayor in 1935 but died suddenly at the age of 60 on 17 September 1934.

Before he moved to Birkenhead, Morris kick-started the commercial development of the Highbury area by erecting a contiguous block of eight commercial shops in 1923. It was and is a simple structure of plastered masonry with broad verandas and no ornamentation. The earliest shops included a grocery, cake shop, hardware store, fruit shop, and haberdashery. More recently, the shops at 11-13 Birkenhead Avenue have been demolished and replaced with a larger, two-storey building, although 15 Birkenhead Avenue remains in place from the original block. The block now houses a restaurant, cafe, bakery, barber shop, accounting office, and insulation installer.

Continue along Birkenhead Avenue to Onewa Road. Look across the road to the church.