Birkenhead, New Zealand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 suburb. As a city and suburb it included areas known as: Birkenhead Point, Highbury, Chatswood, Verrans Corner, Birkdale and Beachaven. Since amalgamation took place, it is less clear whether "Birkenhead" includes Verrans Corner, Birkdale and Beachaven.

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.

In 1883 a farm estate called "Mayfield" was auctioned and subsequently subdivided for housing sections. Birkenhead was probably named after the suburb of Liverpool developed during the middle of the 19th century. The English Birkenhead was noted for its elegant & expensive houses, its sea views and its charmingly laid out picturesque park - the developers of the Auckland Birkenhead obviously wanted to cash in on this image.

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.

[edit] 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 (eg Rewi's Last Stand - see Cinema_of_New_Zealand)
• Hone Tuwhare, the poet, was briefly a Birkenhead Borough Councillor

[edit] 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.