TIIK AUSTRALIAN MUSKI'M KAKLV HISTiil.'V ETII KlIIlHiF. :i77 



A great loss was sustaiiii'd (luiiiip; Lsr)<"> ilndiigli tlic dcatli of Keai-- 

 Admiral Phillip Parker King, II. N., on the '2()th Kehriiary ; he had seived 

 as Comniitteeman and Trustee for more than twenty yearsi^i. 'i'l,e 

 vacancy tlins caused on the ]ioard was tilled by the election of Randolph 

 John Wiint, Ksqi'., on Tjth Ay)i'il. 



The Honom-ahle H. \V. Parker who liad filled the office of Crown 

 Trustee since August, 1853, resigned that jjosition in Octobei-, 185G, in 

 consequence of becoming Colonial Se(!retary, an office cairying with it the 

 position of an Official Trustee. He was succeeded as Crown Trustee by 

 the Honourable Edward Deas Thomson, Esqr., in January, 1857172, a 

 member of tlie old Committee. 



Notwithstanding the completion of the gallery as announced in the 

 Annual Report foi- 1855, this unfortunate North Wing does not appear to. 

 have been com[)leted even by September, 1856, for it lacked a staircase 

 to the gallery, flagging and dx-ainage to the cellar, the hall ceiling 

 unpainted'"-', and general want of ventilation. To rectify all tliis the sum 

 of £2,000 was placed on the Estimates for 1856^''^. Dilatoriness supreme 

 appears to have been the order of the day, for by 1864 affairs remained 

 in an unfinished state, judging by a letter from Mr. Krefft to the Colonial 

 Secretary' in August of that year, asking that a floor be laid down^'^. 



No more hopeless muddle appears to have been made in the affairs of 

 the Museum than the casing and fitting up of the hall and galler}-. The}' 

 seem to have been commenced in the early part of 1856, and the work 

 continued well on into 1863. The fittings in question consisted of 

 enclosing the intermediate pillar spaces on the floor of the hall with 

 glazed framings, cabinet cases with glass tops on the floor, and glazed 

 wall cases around the gallery^''''. These fittings were in existence when I 

 joined the Museum Staff, and I mnst say they were anything but works 

 of art! To provide these fittings an appropriation was passed by the 

 Council in 1856 for £3,0001^'' and three contracts foi- their construction 

 were let at £568, £857, and £1,387 respectively^"'^. The Annual Report 

 just quoted then says : — 



"The internal fittings of the great hall being thus brought to a state 

 approaching completion, etc." 



1" Minutes, 8th March, 1856 ; Ann. Report for 1856 (1857), p. 1. 



15.57 



i'-^ Ann. Kept, for 1856 (1857), p. 2 ; Document B ; Minutes 7th Feb., 1857. 



2 

 J" Minutes, 2nd February and 18th September, 1856. 



I'-i „ 18th September and 4th October, 1856. 



i"T Letter-book, ii., p. 18:^. 

 20.56 



176 Document A ; Minutes, 15th March. Srd May, 5th and 12th July, 1856. 



L'8 

 I" Minutes, 8th March, 5th April, 1856. 



'"'< Minutes, 3rd May, 5th July, 18.50; Letter-book, i., p. 160; Annual Report 

 for 1856 (1857), p. 1. 



