Macleay Museum

Edgeworth David Building

The Macleay Museum in Sydney, Australia, is a natural history museum located on the main campus of the University of Sydney. Admission is free and the museum open to the public. Hours of admission are 10:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday, and 12:00pm to 4:00pm on the first Saturday of the month. The museum is closed on public holidays and Sundays.

History

The building in which the museum is housed was built off Science Lane (within the University of Sydney) in 1887. The collections of the Macleay Museum are based largely on the efforts and acquisitions of the Macleays, one of the pre-eminent families in colonial Sydney: Alexander Macleay, William Sharp Macleay and William John Macleay.

Collection

Inside the Macleay Museum

The strengths of the collection lie in entomology, ethnography, scientific instruments, and historic photographs. Many of the biological specimens in the collection represent rare or extinct species, while some of the specimens have historic and cultural value as they were collected by explorers like Charles Darwin and Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay.

The George Masters Exhibition Space of the museum is devoted to temporary exhibitions. Overall, the museum houses one of the most important natural history and ethnography collections in Australia, surpassed in Sydney only by the Australian Museum.

Exhibits

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See also

• Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney

External links

• Macleay Museum — official site hosted by the University of Sydney
• Macleay Museum — Heritage listing details
• Macleay Museum — 6:35 min Catalyst video presentation by the government Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television network [with transcript]