Henry Douglas Morpeth was born 27 January 1808 in Edinburgh, Scotland to James Morpeth and Moore Hunter. Henry received his education in Edinburgh and worked for a time in the law office of William Duncan. On 17 April 1828, Henry left Scotland for Prince Edward Island. Shortly after his arrival, Henry took a job in Attorney General William Johnstone's office. He went on to marry William’s daughter, Christina Johnstone, on 11 August 1835. Henry and Christina moved to Brickins Farm, St. Peter’s Road in Charlottetown, where they lived for the next twenty-five years. The couple had eight children, including Moore Hunter, William Johnstone, Matilda Grahame, James Bruce, Henry Douglas, Catherine Henrietta, George Robert and Thomas Sloan. While on PEI Henry worked as an agent for a number of land owners, including Viscount Melville and David Stewart. He was an active member of the St. James Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown and sat on the Board of Directors for several years. In 1856 he also acted as the Commissioner for Establishing Boundaries of Townships and Counties.

In 1858, the Morpeth family and a few other Charlottetown families chartered a brig named the Prince Edward and set sail for Auckland, New Zealand. Upon arriving in the new colony, Henry and his family settled on a farm in Mangonui, but when the farm failed to prosper, they moved to Ponsonby. While in New Zealand, Henry held a number of positions, including Secretary to the City Board of Works of the Auckland Municipal Borough Council, Inspector of Nuisances, Drays, Lodging Houses, etc., clerk in the Crown Grants Department of the Survey Office, Messanger for the Legislative Department, and Inspector of Lunatic Asylums. Henry died on 12 July 1878 in Ponsonby, New Zealand.