The King George III Museum was a museum within

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, England between 1843 and 1927 which held the collections of

scientific instruments A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

as well as eminent nineteenth-century scientists including

Sir Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS FRSE DCL LLD (6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875), was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope (a device for di ...

and

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

. The collection of scientific and mathematical instruments assembled by George III, after whom the museum is named, was donated to the university by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in 1841, and the museum was opened by

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

on 1 July 1843. The museum was located within the King's Building designed by

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles. As architect to the Board of Works, he designed several major ...

. It counted among its collections the unfinished prototype of the Difference Engine No. 1, designed by

, who is considered a " father of the computer".Browell (2007), p. 14 The museum closed in 1926, and much of its collections were transferred on loan to the

Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

History

The scientific collections of George III were previously housed in the

Kew Observatory The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatory founded by King George III. T ...

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, which had been the king's private observatory, constructed to observe the

Transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

in 1769. In the mid-nineteenth century the government discontinued the maintenance of Kew, giving rise to the need to house the collections elsewhere.Filippoupoliti (2011), p. 11 The collection of electrical and mechanical apparatus for use in

scientific experimentation An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

, which had formed the nucleus of the royal collection and had served for the instruction of the royal children, was donated to the university by

in 1841 and the museum was opened by

on 1 July 1843.A. A. (1952), p. 187 The royal gift was presented to the college for the purposes of maintaining "a general course of experimental philosophy" with the stipulation that it should remain intact and be associated with the name of its royal founder.Filippoupoliti (2011), pp. 15–16 The museum held the collections of

, Professor of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy at King's, which were bequeathed to King's College following his death in 1875. In 1926, due to space constraints within the college much of the museum's collections were transferred on loan to the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

or kept in the college

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

Location

The museum was located in a double-height galleried space opposite the Council Room in the King's Building designed by

, part of the

Strand Campus The Strand Campus is the founding campus of King's College London and is located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, sharing its frontage along the River Thames. The original campus comprises the Grade I listed King's Building of 1831 ...

Footnotes

References

;Publications * ;Journals * * ;Websites *

External links

George III: A royal passion for science
at the

{{coord, 51.5114, -0.1159, display=title Museums established in 1843 1843 establishments in England Defunct museums in London