168 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Court House, Woolloomooloo, now the Criminal Court, Darlinghurst, to which 

 the museum was removed in 18i0. (After Maclehose, "Picture of Sydney, 1838.") 



Australian Museum," and a few months 

 later, in the "Sydney Gazette," Junt 

 28th, 1828, it is mentioned, that "the 

 Attorney General (A. M. Baxter, Esq.; 

 is resolving on ways and means to start 

 a Museum in the Colony." It is eA'i- 

 dent that the institution was founded in 

 tliis year under the name "Colonial 

 Museum," to be known later, about 1836, 

 under its present title. The collections 

 at this period had no permanent home 

 and were housed in different locations at 

 varying times. In 1830 they were con- 

 tained in the Judge Advocate's Old Of- 

 fice where the Lands Office now stands. 

 In 1831, with the permission of Gover- 

 nor Darling, two allottments in Hj'de 

 Pai'k were selected ])y the Committee of 

 the Australian Subscription Library, "it 

 being understood that suitable provision 

 be made for a Museum . . . whicli it 

 is conceded may l)e united with great 

 advantage to the Pul)lic Library." In 

 1835 Governor Bourke approached the 

 Secretary of State for C'olonies asking 

 '•permission to propose to the Council 

 of this Colony the ap])ni])riation of 

 money for the erection of a building to 

 ser\e as a Library and Museum and to 

 be i)laced in connection with tlie Sydney 

 Botanical Gardens." In 1838. £1,000 



having been voted for l)uilding a Public 

 Library and Museum, Governor Gipps 

 informed the Committee that tlie Colonial 

 Architect had l)een directed to confer 



witli tliem regarding "the purpose of 

 ]_iroposing an eligible situation for the 

 erection of an edifice suitable for those 

 Institutions." From the material avail- 

 able it would seem that in 1836 both the 

 Museum and Library occupied the late 

 I'esidence of Chief Justice Forbes. This 

 was on the corner of Bridge and Gres- 

 ham Streets where the Lands Office now 

 stands. In 1840 they w^ere transferred 

 to what was formerly the Surveyor- 

 General's Office in Macc^uarie Street, op- 

 posite what is now the Royal Mint. It 

 was only whilst in these premises that 

 the two institutions were together and 

 from here the Museum migrated to the 

 "New Court House," Woolloomooloo, now 

 the Criminal Courts, Darlinghurst. Just 

 when the collections went there one can- 

 not say, but in 1849 they were trans- 

 ferred to the situation at present oc- 

 cupied. The erection of the building, be- 

 gun in 1846, had been slow. It forms 

 part of the North Wing facing Park 

 Street. As the building approached 

 completion there were many enquiries for 

 the use of the "large room." Several 

 local societies met in it, and on the ar- 

 rival of R.M.S. "Chusan," inaugurating 

 the steam mail service between the 

 United Kingdom and Australia, it was 

 utilised for a ball. This was on August 

 26tli, 1852, and necessitated the closing 

 of the Museum for a month. 



