New Brunswick Museum

New Brunswick Museum
Established	1842
Location	Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Type	provincial museum
Website	www.nbm-mnb.ca

The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was officially incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back much further. Its lineage can be traced back another eighty-eight years to 1842 and to the work of Dr. Abraham Gesner.

History

Abraham Gesner

Abraham Gesner was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia in 1797. His childhood fascination with scientific experiments led him to study in London, England where he became a physician. After only a few years of practice in Nova Scotia, he moved to New Brunswick in 1837 to become a full-time geologist. In 1838, he became New Brunswick's Provincial Geologist - the first such appointment in Canada. This position lasted until 1842 when Gesner turned to making a living by displaying his collection of rocks, minerals and "curiosities" to the public.

The New Brunswick Museum was opened on Douglas Avenue, Saint John, New Brunswick in 1934, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the province. In 1996, exhibitions were moved to Market Square. The Douglas Avenue facility now houses collections, laboratories, administration and the archives and research library.

On April 5, 1842 Gesner opened the Museum of Natural History, the precursor of the New Brunswick Museum, in one room of the Mechanics' Institute on Carleton Street, in Saint John. Unfortunately, income from his newly-founded museum was not enough to solve Gesner's financial problems. In 1843, his collection passed on to his creditors who, in turn, donated it to the Saint John Mechanics' Institute.

Renamed the Mechanics' Institute Museum in 1846, an annual report dating from 1863 described it as, "a large and valuable collection of minerals, a great variety of zoological specimens, and many Chinese, Indian and other curiosities [that] frequently receives additions from foreign sea captains and others who get into their possession foreign articles of an attractive description."

When the Mechanics' Institute closed in 1890, the Natural History Society of New Brunswick acquired the collection and the museum was moved, first to the then new Market Building then, in 1906, to 72 Union Street. Under the care of its curator and later director, the entomologist Dr. William McIntosh, the museum's collections and activities expanded until a new building was essential. In 1934 a new Provincial museum facility on Douglas Avenue was officially opened by Prime Minister R.B. Bennett.

As of 1942, the collections, building and properties of the museum officially became the property of the people of New Brunswick. Today a Provincial institution funded by the Province of New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Museum continues to collect, preserve, study and exhibit the Province's natural and cultural heritage. As well as having a remarkable natural sciences collection, the museum has expanded to include one of the largest collections of 19th century decorative arts and Canadiana in the Atlantic Provinces.

Market Square

By 1992, the museum had outgrown its Douglas Avenue location and plans were made to develop new exhibition galleries in a central Saint John location. In April, 1996 the New Brunswick Museum officially opened at Market Square in leased space in uptown Saint John. The Exhibition Centre offers three floors and 60,000 square feet (6,000 m²) of exhibition spaces and a wide range of public programs. The Collection Centre, Archives and Research Library, as well as Head Office continue to be situated at the Douglas Avenue location.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

References

External links

• New Brunswick Museum Includes searchable databases of the archives and research library, and natural sciences collections.
• "Early Museums in the Maritimes", Michael Deal, 2001