Ipswich Museum - The Museum Adopted By The Corporation, 1853

The Museum Adopted By The Corporation, 1853

After a financial collapse in late 1852, a referendum was held in the town which voted overwhelmingly to support the Museum through the provisions of the Public Libraries Act 1850. This permitted the levying of a public rate to support such institutions. The collections and properties were formally transferred complete to the Corporation, which retained them in the original premises under the terms of a lease from the builders. Under the new management the terms of public admission were extensively widened. Henslow remained President and continued to develop the collections actively until 1861.

After Henslow's death in 1861, soon after the great confrontation concerning Evolution between Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley at Oxford at which Henslow presided, his curator George Knights maintained the collections until his death in 1872.