The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

based in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England. It is part of

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The a ...

. It opened for a trial season in 1980 before fully opening in 1984 and expanding in 1986. The museum occupies warehouse block D at the

Albert Dock Albert Dock may refer to: *Albert Dock, Hull, in Kingston upon Hull, England *Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, a dock and warehouse system in Liverpool, England *Royal Albert Dock, London The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal ...

, along with the Piermaster's House,

Canning Half Tide Dock Canning Half Tide Dock on the River Mersey, in Liverpool, England, is a half tide dock and is part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Canning Dock to the east and Albert Dock to the south. Histo ...

and Canning Graving Docks. The city's seafaring heritage is brought to life within the historic Albert Dock. The museum's collections reflect the international importance of Liverpool as a gateway to the world, including its role in the

transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

and

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

, the merchant navy and the RMS ''Titanic''. The

UK Border Agency The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was forme ...

National Museum, '

Seized! The Border and Customs uncovered The Border Force National Museum (previously - UK Border Agency) is located in Liverpool, England and holds the national collection of HM Revenue and Customs, one of the most important collections of its type held anywhere in the world. Origina ...

' is located in the basement gallery of the building.

History

The embryonic Merseyside Maritime Museum collection began in 1862. Over the years, the collection developed slowly due to lack of funds to the extent that by 1924 the collection was little more than 'an old dug-out canoe and a few model ships'. Robert Gladstone (maritime historian and great-nephew of former Prime Minister William Gladstone) created the shipping gallery in 1931 which was partially destroyed in the May Blitz of 1941. In 1965, the History of the Ship gallery was opened followed by the Port of Liverpool gallery (1971) and the New Shipperies Exhibition (1974). In late 1970s work began on the creation of a dedicated maritime museum which opened for a trial season in 1980.

Archives Centre

The building also houses th
Archives Centre
previously known as the Maritime Archives and Library.

References

External links

*
Merseyside Maritime MuseumWhat's On at Merseyside Maritime MuseumCollections of Merseyside Maritime Museum
National Museums Liverpool Liverpool docks Maritime museums in England European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points Museums in Liverpool Museums established in 1980 1980 establishments in England Libraries in Merseyside {{UK-museum-stub