Macleay Museum (1892 - )

Summary

The Macleay Museum, a part of the University of Sydney, was created when William J. Macleay donated to the University the natural history collections assembled by his uncle Alexander Macleay, his cousin William Sharp Macleay and himself. These men were leaders in scientific circles in New South Wales in the nineteenth century. Included in the donation were funds for a Curator in perpetuity. The basis of the collections was the entomological specimens brought to Australia by Alexander in 1826. Opened in 1892, the Museum houses a significant historical collection of insects, the specimens from the Chevert Expedition of 1875, over 16,000 ethnographic items, 60,000 historic photographs, and a large collection of scientific instruments. In 2020 it was rehoused, with other University museum collections, in the Chau Chak Wing Museum.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Stacey, Robyn and Hay, Ashley, Museum: the MacLeays, their Collection and the Search for Order (Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 196 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Fulton, G. R., 'Alexander, William Sharp, and William John Macleay: their Ornithology and Museum' in Contributions to the History of Australasian Ornithology, volume 2, Davis, William E., Recher, Harry F. and Boles, Walter E., eds (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Nuttall Ornithological Club, 2012), pp. 327-93. Details
• Horning, D. S., 'The history and significance of the Macleay insect collection' in Some sources for the history of Australian science: six papers presented at a workshop on the history of science in Australia, Borchardt, D. L., ed. (Kensington, N.S.W.: History Project Incorporated, 1983), pp. 23-32. Details

Edited Books

• Stanbury, Peter and Holland, Julian eds, Mr Macleay's celebrated cabinet: the history of the Macleays and their museum (Sydney: Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, 1988), 170 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Fulton, Graham R., 'A detailed report on the birds collected on the Chevert Expedition to New Guinea, in 1875', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 143 (2021), 9-36. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/LIN/article/view/15518. Details
• Horning, D. S., 'The Macleay insect collection', Antenna: bulletin of the Royal Entomoogical Society of London, 8 (4) (1984), 172-5. Details
• Palma, Ricardo L., 'Two bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) collected during Captain Cook's 2nd voyage around the world', Archives of natural history, 18 (2) (1991), 237-47. Details
• Pretty, Graeme, 'The Macleay Museum mummy from Torres Strait: a postscript to Elliot Smith and the diffusion controversy', Mankind, new series, 4 (1) (1999), 24-43. Details
• Stevens, M. M. and Carver, Mary, 'Type specimens of Hemiptera (insecta) transferred from the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, to the Australian National Insect Collection', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 108 (4) (1986), 263-6. Details
• Ville, Simon, 'Researching the natural history trade of the nineteenth cenury', Museum history journal, 13 (1) (2020), 8-19. Details
• Ville, Simon; Wright, Claire; and Philip, Jude, 'Macleay's choice: transacting the natural history trade in the nineteenth century', Journal of the history of biology, 53 (3) (2020), 345-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-2020-09610-9. Details

See also

• Haswell, W. A., 'Presidential address', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, ns, 6 (1892), 706-22. Details