Museums Victoria
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.jpeg) Melbourne Museum: Museums Victoria's main campus | |
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Former name | Museum of Victoria, Museum Victoria |
|---|---|
| Established | 1854 |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Type | Natural history, cultural history, and science and technology |
| Founder | Frederick McCoy |
| CEO | Lynley Crosswell |
| Website | museumsvictoria.com.au |
Museums Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria, the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facility in Melbourne's City of Moreland.
History
The museum traces its history back to the establishment of the National Museum of Victoria in 1854 under the directorship of Frederick McCoy.[1] The Library Museums and National Gallery Act 1869 incorporated the State Library Victoria with the Museums and the National Gallery of Victoria; but this administrative connection was severed in 1944 when the Public Library, National Gallery and Museums Act came into force, and they became three separate institutions once again.[2] Museums Victoria was founded in its current form under the Australian Museums Act (1983).[3] The collections of around 16 million objects cover Indigenous items, science, history and technology.[4]
Significant events in the Museum's history include:
- 1854 – Founding of the Museum of Natural and Economic Geology with William Blandowski as Government Zoologist
- 1856 – Collections moved to the University of Melbourne by Frederick McCoy
- 1858 – McCoy appointed first director of the National Museum of Victoria
- 1870 – Industrial and Technological Museum opened
- 1899 – National Museum moved to Swanston Street, Melbourne
- 1927 – Acquired the H. L. White Collection of the eggs of Australian native birds
- 1945 – Industrial and Technology Museum renamed Museum of Applied Science
- 1961 – Museum of Applied Science renamed Institute of Applied Science
- 1971 – Institute of Applied Science renamed Science Museum of Victoria
- 1983 – National Museum of Victoria and Science Museum of Victoria amalgamated to form the Museum of Victoria
- 1992 – Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne) opened
- 1997 – Swanston Street campus closed
- 1998 – Museum of Victoria renamed Museum Victoria; Immigration Museum and Hellenic Antiquities Museum opened
- 2000 – Melbourne Museum at Carlton Gardens opened
- 2016 – Museum Victoria renamed Museums Victoria
Administration
The present chief executive officer of Museums Victoria is Lynley Crosswell (formerly Marshall), who was previously the head of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s international arm. Crosswell is the first woman to lead the organisation in its history.[5]
Former directors include:
- 1858 – Frederick McCoy
- 1899 – Walter Baldwin Spencer
- 1928 – James A. Kershaw
- 1931 – Daniel James Mahony
- 1957 – Charles. W. Brazenor
- 1962 – John McNally
- 1979 – Barry Wilson
- 1984 – Robert Edwards
- 1990 – Graham Morris
- 1998 – George F. MacDonald
- 2002 – Dr J. Patrick Greene
See also
References
- ^ Rasmussen, Carolyn (2001). A Museum for the People: A History of Museum Victoria and Its Predecessors, 1854–2000. Scribe Publications Pty Limited. ISBN 978-0-908011-69-8.
- ^ "The history of the State Library of Victoria". guides.slv.vic.gov.au.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accesss-date=ignored (help) - ^ "Museums Act 1983". www.austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Clode, Danielle (2006). Continent of Curiosities: A Journey Through Australian Natural History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86620-0.
- ^ Northover, Kylie (1 January 2018). "Lunch with Lynley Marshall: 'every day is a magic day'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 May 2018.