The Hunterian Museum is a museum of anatomical specimens in London, located in the building of the
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...
.
History
In 1799 the government purchased the collection of the Scottish surgeon
John Hunter which they presented to the college. This formed the basis of the Hunterian Collection, which has since been supplemented by others including an
Odontological Collection (curated by
A E W Miles until the early 1990s) and the
natural history collections of
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
Ow ...
.
The first museum building was considered inadequate in terms of space, and was closed in April 1834 to allow for an expansion project which added additional East and West galleries, completed in February 1837. A third room was added in 1852, and two further galleries were added between 1888 and 1892.
In May 1941 the college building was badly damaged by bombs, with Rooms IV and V of the museum being completely destroyed along with their contents. After a slow process of entirely new construction in which some of the original design features were maintained, the Hunterian Museum reopened in a reduced form in 1963.
Collections
The Hunterian Museum is a member of
The London Museums of Health & Medicine group, and displays thousands of anatomical specimens, including the
Evelyn tables, instruments belonging to
Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...
, and the skeleton of the "Irish giant"
Charles Byrne (procured against Byrne's dying wishes), surgical equipment, and paintings and sculptures about medical individuals and medicine. The museum's
odontological collection includes teeth retrieved from soldiers at the battle of Waterloo, a necklace of human teeth brought to England by explorer
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa and his sear ...
, and a set of
dentures belonging to
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
.
The museum closed in May 2017 for renovation work, to reopen in 2023.
Curators
* From 1862 until 1884
William Henry Flower
Sir William Henry Flower (30 November 18311 July 1899) was an English surgeon, museum curator and comparative anatomist, who became a leading authority on mammals and especially on the primate brain. He supported Thomas Henry Huxley in an ...
was curator of the museum.
Gallery
File:The skeleton of Charles Byrne (1761–1783).jpg, The skeleton of Charles Byrne (1761–1783)
File:Scyllarides latus - 1.jpg, '' Scyllarides latus'', the slipper lobster
File:Dinornis novaezealandiae - 1.jpg, Skeleton of '' Dinornis novaezealandiae'', the extinct North Island giant moa
File:Bufo sp. - 001.jpg, A species of large toad dissected to show ripe ovaries and contracted oviducts
References
{{Authority control
Museums in the City of Westminster
Medical museums in London
Museums established in 1799