Macleay Museum

The Macleay Museum at The University of Sydney, is a natural history museum located on the University's Camperdown campus, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Macleay Museum gallery is now closed to the public in preparation for the opening of the new Chau Chak Wing Museum, scheduled for completion in late 2020.[1]

Macleay Museum
Edgeworth David Building that houses the Macleay Museum
Former name
Museum of Antiquities
Established1887 (1887)
LocationScience Road, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates33°53′07″S 151°11′17″E
TypeNatural history museum
Collections
  • Colonial/Australian entomology
  • Colonial/Australian ethnography
  • Scientific instruments and apparatus
  • Colonial/Australian historic photographs
Collection size79,000+
Founder
Director, University MuseumsDavid Ellis
(since 2013)
Curator
  • Jan Brazier (History)
  • Rebecca Conway (Ethnography)
  • Anthony Gill (Natural History)
ArchitectGeorge Allen Mansfield
OwnerThe University of Sydney
Websitesydney.edu.au/museums/collections/macleay.shtml
New South Wales Heritage Database
(Local Government Register)
Official nameMacleay Museum; Macleay Museum Building, University of Sydney Including Interior
TypeLocal government heritage (built)
Criteriaa., c., d., e., f.
Designated14 December 2012
Reference no.I79
TypeEducation
CategoryUniversity

The Macleay Museum was added to the City of Sydney local government heritage list on 14 December 2012.[2][3]

History

The building in which the museum is housed was built off Science Lane within the Camperdown campus in 1887. The collections of the Macleay Museum are based largely on the efforts and acquisitions of the Macleay family, one of the pre-eminent families in colonial Sydney including Alexander Macleay, William Sharp Macleay and William John Macleay. The zoologist and collector George Masters served as curator until 1912.[4]

Collection

The strengths of the collection lie in entomology, ethnography, scientific instruments, and historic photographs. Many of the biological specimens in the collection represent rare or extinct species, while some of the specimens have historic and cultural value[5] as they were collected by explorers like Charles Darwin and Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay.

The George Masters Exhibition Space of the museum was devoted to temporary exhibitions. Overall, the museum houses one of the most important natural history and ethnography collections in Australia, surpassed in Sydney only by the Australian Museum.

  • Inside the Macleay Museum

See also

References
  1. "Chau Chak Wing Museum" (Press release). The University of Sydney. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  2. "Macleay Museum Building, University of Sydney Including Interior". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. "Macleay Museum". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. Whitley, G. P. "Masters, George (1837–1912)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  5. "Macleay Museum". Catalyst. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 June 2008. ABC TV. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
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