694 NATUT^AL SCIENCE. x^,.. 



On the igth October, 1886, at a meeting of the Town Council of 

 Norwich, the late Mr. John Gurney, being then Mayor of Norwich, 

 proposed the conversion of the keep and prison buildings into a 

 museum, with a view to the transfer of the collections now belonging 

 to the Norfolk and Norwich Museum. A committee, known as the 

 Castle Museum Committee, was appointed for the purpose of raising 

 the necessary funds, &c., and to this fund Mr. Gurney contributed 

 /■5>ooo. 



Since that date the Castle and all the buildings attached to it 

 have been leased to fifteen trustees, namely, five for the Corporation, 

 five for the shareholders of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, and 

 five for the subscribers to the Castle Museum Fund. When the 

 scheme is completed, the trustees are to make over the building and 

 collections to the Corporation, who have agreed to accept the trust, and 

 to hold the same for the permanent scientific and educational use of 

 the citizens of Norwich, and to maintain and preserve the said col- 

 lections and utilise them for the purposes of science, literature, and 

 art, and provide out of the Corporation funds for such purpose."* 



Various meetings have been held, under the presidency of Lord 

 Walsingham, supported by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Lord 

 Leicester, the Lord Lieutenant (Sir Edward Birkbeck, M.P.), the 

 High Sheriff of Norfolk (S. Gurney Buxton, Esq.), the city and county 

 members, the Mayor and Sheriff of Norfolk, and, indeed, all the most 

 influential people in both city and county. 



Some ;^i 5,000 will be required to complete the buildings, and 

 the sale of the present museum premises, it is estimated, will provide 

 funds sufficient for the furniture and fittings of the new museum. 



The adaptation of the whole of the buildings to the purposes of the 

 museum has now been carried into effect, and the writer had the 

 pleasure of seeing the entire series of galleries in an advanced state 

 towards completion in August last. 5 



To such noble proportions may a museum attain, which, in 

 February, 1825, had its initiation in a small body of private gentlemen, 

 naturalists and antiquaries, connected with the city and county, 

 starting with an annual subscription of five shillings each member. 



At the end of 1826 we find the Committee appealing to their 

 friends for aid, with a debt of nearly ;/r400, and a collection 

 moderately valued at ^"850. It is to the honour of these gentlemen 

 and their friends and successors that the Norfolk and Norwich Museum 

 has contined (supported by voluntary contributions) for nearly 

 seventy years, and has, at the present time, in addition to its books 



* These particulars were kindl)' sent me in a letter by Mr. John Quinton, 

 Librarian, Norfolk and Norwich Library, Norwich, to whom I am much indebted. 



5 Upon this occasion, and also in March last, I received the greatest kindness 

 and attention from Mr. E. Boardman, Mr. James Reeve, Mr. Eaton, the Honorary 

 Secretary, Mr. Southwell, Mr. Mottram, and other members of the Committee of 

 the N, and N. Museum. 



