Liverpool Museums
03-08-2010, 09:41 AM
It's time to peer back into the mists of time again in our seriesof blogs celebrating World Museum's 150th anniversary. (http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/HappyAnniversaryToTheWorldMuseum.aspx) Today is one of the mostsignificant dates in the museum's history, as we revisit the day the museum firstopened. Our archives tell us about the challenges that had to be overcome in orderto fit the massive natural history collection into the museum...http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/blog/graphics/slater_street.jpgSlaterStreet, the location where the museum first openend.
On 8 March 1853, the museum first opened in a building on Slater Street in Liverpool,and it was called the 'Derby Museum of the Borough of Liverpool'. The Mayor and councilmarched in a procession from the Town Hall, arriving at the museum just after 2pm.The Mayor spoke from a temporary dais about the collection of natural history in themuseum which had been bequeathed to the town of Liverpool by the Earl of Derby. Hesaid;
"The museum, as is well known, consists of stuffed birds and a large number of birdsprepared for stuffing, collected by that eminent patron of natural history, the lateEarl of Derby."
"…we may consider this collection the nucleus of one which I fervently hope may exceedin extent, magnificence and in beauty, that of the British Museum itself..."
Then a Mr J.A. Picton came forward to add;
"In regard to the museum, which has just been opened, the problem which was givenus to solve was as follows; [We were] given 18,000 specimens of natural history andto determine how to lace them in a space only calculated to hold 6,000 specimens...Ithink it would surpass the accomplishment of any conjurer..."
The Bishop of Chester said that he little expected to be called upon to do more thanbe a spectator.I wonder if in 1853 anyone apart from the keepers of the collection were allowed totouch the specimens? I doubt that the general public would have got any closer thanlooking at them in the display cases.
If you visit the museum today however, you can get up close and handle some of thespecimens. Head over to the CloreNatural History Centre (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/naturalworld/nhc/index.aspx) and see what you can get your hands on!
More... (http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/AMuseumStuffedWithSpecimens.aspx)
On 8 March 1853, the museum first opened in a building on Slater Street in Liverpool,and it was called the 'Derby Museum of the Borough of Liverpool'. The Mayor and councilmarched in a procession from the Town Hall, arriving at the museum just after 2pm.The Mayor spoke from a temporary dais about the collection of natural history in themuseum which had been bequeathed to the town of Liverpool by the Earl of Derby. Hesaid;
"The museum, as is well known, consists of stuffed birds and a large number of birdsprepared for stuffing, collected by that eminent patron of natural history, the lateEarl of Derby."
"…we may consider this collection the nucleus of one which I fervently hope may exceedin extent, magnificence and in beauty, that of the British Museum itself..."
Then a Mr J.A. Picton came forward to add;
"In regard to the museum, which has just been opened, the problem which was givenus to solve was as follows; [We were] given 18,000 specimens of natural history andto determine how to lace them in a space only calculated to hold 6,000 specimens...Ithink it would surpass the accomplishment of any conjurer..."
The Bishop of Chester said that he little expected to be called upon to do more thanbe a spectator.I wonder if in 1853 anyone apart from the keepers of the collection were allowed totouch the specimens? I doubt that the general public would have got any closer thanlooking at them in the display cases.
If you visit the museum today however, you can get up close and handle some of thespecimens. Head over to the CloreNatural History Centre (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/naturalworld/nhc/index.aspx) and see what you can get your hands on!
More... (http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/AMuseumStuffedWithSpecimens.aspx)