Museum Victoria - History

History

The museum traces its history back to the establishment of the National Museum of Victoria in 1854 under the directorship of Frederick McCoy. It was founded in its current form under the Australian Museums Act (1983). The collections of around 16 million objects cover Indigenous items, science, history and technology.

Significant events in the Museum's history include:

  • 1854 - Founding of the Museum of Natural and Economic Geology with William Blandowski as Government Zoologist
  • 1856 - Collections moved to the University of Melbourne by Frederick McCoy
  • 1858 - McCoy appointed first director of the National Museum of Victoria
  • 1870 - Industrial and Technological Museum opened
  • 1899 - National Museum moved to Swanston Street, Melbourne
  • 1927 - Acquired the H. L. White Collection of the eggs of Australian native birds
  • 1945 - Industrial and Technology Museum renamed Museum of Applied Science
  • 1961 - Museum of Applied Science renamed Institute of Applied Science
  • 1971 - Institute of Applied Science renamed Science Museum of Victoria
  • 1983 - National Museum of Victoria and Science Museum of Victoria amalgamated to form the Museum of Victoria
  • 1992 - Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne) opened
  • 1997 - Swanston Street campus closed
  • 1998 - Museum of Victoria renamed Museum Victoria; Immigration Museum and Hellenic Antiquities Museum opened
  • 2000 - Melbourne Museum at Carlton Gardens opened

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