The Macleay Museum at

The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, was a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

located on the University's campus, in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The Museum was amalgamanted into

Chau Chak Wing Museum The Chau Chak Wing Museum is a museum at the University of Sydney, Australia. It was formed by the amalgamation of the Nicholson Museum, the Macleay Museum, and the university art collection, with the building funded by businessman Chau Chak Wing ...

, which opened in 2020. The Macleay Museum was added to the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

local government heritage list on 14 December 2012.

History

The Edgeworth David 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 Alexander Macleay (also spelt McLeay) MLC FLS FRS (24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society, a fellow of the Royal Society and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Life Macleay was born on Ro ...

William Sharp Macleay William Sharp Macleay or McLeay (21 July 1792 – 26 January 1865) was a British civil servant and entomologist. He was a prominent promoter of the Quinarian system of classification. After graduating, he worked for the British embassy in Pari ...

and

William John Macleay Sir William John Macleay (13 June 1820 – 7 December 1891) was a Scottish-Australian politician, Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. Early life Macleay was born at Wick, Highland, Wick, Caithness, Scotland, ...

. The zoologist and collector

George Masters George Masters (1837-1912) was a zoologist, active in Australia during the 19th century. Biography Born in Maidstone, England, to Matilda, née Terry, he was trained as a gardener by his father, George Masters, before moving to Sydney. Masters b ...

served as curator until 1912.

Collection

The strengths of the collection, now part of the Sydney University Museums, were in

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

, scientific instruments, and historic photographs. Many of the biological specimens in the collection represented rare or

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species, while some of the specimens have historic and cultural value as they were collected by explorers like

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

and

Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Миклу́хо-Макла́й; 1846 – 1888) was a Russian Imperial explorer. He worked as an ethnologist, anthropologist and biologist who became famous as one of ...

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

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

Gallery

Macleay Museum Interior.jpg, Inside the Macleay Museum Macleay Museum Exhibit 1.jpg Macleay Museum Exhibit 2.jpg

References

External links

* {{authority control University of Sydney buildings Museums in Sydney Natural history museums in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1887 University museums in Australia 1887 establishments in Australia George Allen Mansfield buildings Museums established in 1887 2016 disestablishments in Australia Defunct museums in Australia Museums disestablished in 2016 Macleay family

History

Collection

Gallery

See also

References

External links