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Story: Death and dying

Funeral directors: William Morrison

Funeral directors: William Morrison

William Morrison poses in his shirtsleeves at the door of his funeral parlour and florist business at 367 Parnell Road, Auckland, probably in the 1970s. Morrison set up the funeral parlour in 1921 and his three sons, John, Roger and David, later joined him in the business. Morrison Funerals has grown from William's small funeral parlour to two large establishments in Henderson and Glenn Innes. The new funeral homes incorporate a chapel, a reception lounge, a florist, viewing rooms, casket selection rooms and reception facilities for gatherings after funeral services.

Courtesy of Susanna Burton Photography

Using this item

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

by Susanna Burton

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ruth McManus and Rosemary Du Plessis, Death and dying – Bodies of the dead, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/30389/funeral-directors-william-morrison (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Ruth McManus and Rosemary Du Plessis, published 3 May 2011, updated 1 November 2023.

Comments

Melanie Bellingham
16 February 2022
This photo is almost certainly of my grandfather, Geoff Bellingham, who ran the Parnell funeral parlour for the Morrison's after he returned from WW2. In my Mum's words - "that's definitely him - the Morrison's were tall, lanky people!" The photo was taken in the 70's, sometime prior to Geoff's death in 1978. When I saw this pic in the intro to Good Grief I was very surprised to see him there!!