Early Museums in Hull
#SUBHEADING#The Wallis Museum (c1780-1833)#SUBHEADINGEND# The Wallis Museum was opened in the 1780s by the gun maker George Wallis. The museum displayed collections of weaponry and exhibited methods of their fabrication. The museum is believed to have closed in the 1830s. #SUBHEADING#Hull Literary and Philosophical Society#SUBHEADINGEND# On 7th October 1822 a group of local gentlemen met at the Dog and Duck Inn on Hull's High Street. The meeting was called to discuss an idea of purchasing a collection of natural curiosities and forming a society. A subsequent meeting formed the Hull Literary and Philosophical Society and approved the purchase of the collection, which became the core of the Society's museum. The Society rented two rooms above the newsroom of the Exchange, Bowlalley Lane but by 1827 had out grown the available space. Over the next 25 years the museum moved from location to location each time needing larger and larger premises to house the ever growing collection of items the Society had acquired. The problem was resolved when the museum moved into The Royal Institution in Albion Street on 24th October 1854. Members of the Society were admitted free, with the public allowed access on Saturday afternoons on payment of one penny from 1874. In 1897, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee, a fund was started; half of the proceeds of which was used to build an Art Gallery on top of the Royal Institution, which was opened in 1900. In the same year responsibility for the collections were handed to Hull Corporation. #SUBHEADING#Other museums#SUBHEADINGEND# Robert Dunn's Museum, which opened c1831 displayed preserved animals, birds and insects to show the skills of Robert Dunn as a taxidermist. Reimer's Anatomical Museum (est. 1852), was a museum which housed a collection of specimens and models of human anatomy aimed at highlighting the affects on the human body of the various indulgences of the time.
History of the Hull & East Riding Museum
This narrative tells the story of the Hull and East Riding Museum which is located in what is now known as Hull's Museum Quarter.
Thomas Sheppard
Read about Thomas Sheppard, the 'father' of Hull Museums, from his upbringing in North Lincolnshire, his early interest in geology, his appointment as curator of Hull Literary and Philosophical Society's Museum and his part in the development of Hull's museums.
History of Hull Museums (part 2)
The Museum of Commerce and Transport was opened on High Street in 1925 as the first of its kind in Britain. Sheppard was given the Old Corn Exchange building on High Street (now the Hull and East Riding Museum) to set up the museum, and persuaded local firms to carry out the work on the museum for free. It was filled with a transport collection which included carriages, trams, cars and a plane, some of which he begged from other museums.
History of Hull Museums (part 1)
This story looks at the origins of the Council's Museum service which began in 1900 when it took over responsibility for the collections developed by the Literary and Philosophical Society. The following year saw the appointment of Thomas Sheppard as its first curator and began a period of rapid growth and development.
