Highbury History Walk

Birkenhead is the third oldest suburb on the North Shore. It was established in the early 1860s to support a small population of rural farmers and commuters to Auckland across the Waitematā. The name was chosen in 1863 by Samuel Cochrane, a real estate agent and broker, after his hometown of Birkenhead near Liverpool in England. With the opening of the New Zealand Sugar Company’s refinery at Chelsea in 1884, the population boomed as workers and their families settled north and east of the plant.

The history of the area is much older, though. Māori first arrived around 700 years ago and built several pā—fortified settlements—along the coastline. These were mostly seasonal or periodic settlements, but larger fortifications at Kauri Point to the west and Ōnewa to the east suggest a sustained presence. Te Kawerau controlled these pā until the Musket Wars in the 1820s, when most of the Māori left. Small groups returned in the 1830s but there was no concerted effort to re-establish large-scale settlements on the North Shore.

For the next twenty years, the area that became Birkenhead sat largely unoccupied. Kauri timber cutters and gum diggers roved the area looking for quick fortunes but left as soon as they had made their profit or given up. Meanwhile, property speculators bought up massive sections of land as investments but did very little with it except lease lots to short-term tenants. The first permanent residents settled on Birkenhead Point in the mid-1850s, where they planted orchards and fruits and raised cattle and sheep. Over the following thirty years, the population of the settlement grew gradually.

Birkenhead was included in the Parish of Takapuna from 1843 and became part of the North Shore Highway Board in 1867. Residents formed their own Birkenhead Road Board in 1882, followed in 1888 by the establishment of the Borough of Birkenhead, which transferred to the residents most municipal authority over the territory west of Birkenhead Avenue and Little Shoal Bay. Ninety years later, on 15 March 1978, the City of Birkenhead was established as the second city on the North Shore. It was amalgamated into North Shore City in 1989, which merged into the Auckland supercity in 2010.

Terrain: Concrete sidewalks and gravel trails with a steep descent to Chelsea Bay and a steep climb up to Rugby Road

Starting Point: Birkenhead Library and Civic Centre (204 Hinemoa Street)

Parking: Free parking is available at the Rawene Road Carpark and at Highbury Shopping Centre

Disclaimer: This walk is along public roads and includes historical facts about the buildings and the area. Most of the sites are private businesses or homes. Please respect the environment and do not trespass on private property. Neither Auckland Council nor private property owners accept responsibility for any loss, damage, or injury to you or your property arising from use of this tour.

Copyright 2022 Auckland Council. Auckland Council holds all copyrights associated with this tour. You may not copy or reproduce the content of this tour without permission from Auckland Council. Auckland Council has taken every care to ensure that the information contained in this tour is accurate, but accepts no responsibility arising from, or in connection with, your use of this tour and the information contained in it.