J.R. Morris of Dunedin

John Richard Morris was, according to Hardwicke Knight in his book, New Zealand Photographers. A Selection, "one of the leading Dunedin professional photographers for many years." One of five sons of a Dunedin City Corporation valuer, also named John Richard Morris, he opened his first studio around 1870. He continued, with premises on Princes and George Streets, and with a variety of partners, including Robert Clifford - featured in a previous Photo-Sleuth article - until 1915.

J.R. Morris took over the studio of another renowned Dunedin photographer, Walter John Burton (1836-1880), after the latter's suicide in 1880. he also acquired other studios in Dunedin, operating them with a series of managers. These included the American Photographic Company in Princes Street in the 1890s. He, Fred Muir and Frank Coxhead established quite a reputation for landscapes. He died during the influenza epidemic on 29 June 1919. (from Auckland City Library's Photographers Database and Knight (1981))


The vignetted three-quarter length cabinet card portrait shown above features an unidentified elderly couple. It was probably taken in the late 1880s.