William and Elizabeth Morriss, of Waikuku The couple established one of the area’s founding families.
Elizabeth (née Stokes) and her family had arrived in New Zealand in 1850 on The Randolph, one of the First Four Ships.
The Stokes family came from Leicestershire and it seems word of their delight in their new home quickly spread back to England, with dozens of Leicestershire folk following them to New Zealand within a few years. Those numbers included William Morriss, on the Joseph Fletcher in 1856.
William and Elizabeth’s home – the first to be built on the Woodend side of Waikuku – can still be seen, just off State Highway 1.