ANNALS 
OF 
J'he J’mnsvaal Museum. 
No. 1. 
APRIL, 11)08. 
VOL. I. 
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TRANSVAAL MUSEUM. 
By Dr. J. W. B. Gunning, Director. 
In sending the first number of the Annals of the Transvaal 
Museum out into the world, it may be of some interest to review 
the history of this Institution. 
In 1892 the Government of the late South African 
Republic, at the initiative of the State Secretary, Dr. W. J. 
Leyds, decided to found a State Museum for the Republic 
in Pretoria, and appointed the following gentlemen as a 
Board of Management or Trustees, “Curatoren”: Dr. N. 
Mansvelt, Dr. G. S. W. Lingbeek, Dr. H. G. Breyer, Dr. Fockens 
and Geo. Leith, Esq. 
Of these gentlemen, the Superintendent of Education was 
ex officio Chairman, and the Institution ressorted under his 
Department. 
At this period there existed no public collections of the 
Fauna, the Flora, or the Ethnography of the Transvaal, and 
it was the first aim of this Institution to collect these objects 
as well as exhibits of historical and national interest. 
Whilst the first aim was the scientific exploration of the 
State and the making and preserving of scientific collections 
as the natural outcome of such explorations, the second and 
not less important aim was practical aid to education. 
The Department of Education, under the guidance of 
Dr. Mansvelt, had erected many new schools, of which 
the “ Gymnasium ” or College, the “ Model School ” for 
boys, the i High School ” for girls, the Normal School,” 
ajicj the “ School of Mines ” were the most important. 
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