Science Museum archive

The ED/79 archive covers the history, development and administration of the science collections that formed first part of the South Kensington Museum in 1856 and then became separately administered as the Science Museum in 1909. The material documents the first years of the science collections when they were largely comprised of objects from the Great Exhibition of 1851. In 1864, a collection of Naval Models and Marine Engines was formed and in 1876, many objects from the Loan Exhibition of Scientific Instruments and Apparatus were acquired for the Museum. The Patent Act of 1883 transferred the significant engineering collections of the Patent Office Museum. Further exhibits were later acquired on the closing of the Geological Museum in Jermyn Street.

The papers document the difficulties of arranging enough accommodation for the growing collections in the original temporary quarters at South Kensington and proposals for the erection of new buildings and alterations to existing premises. One proposed scheme involving three 'Branch Museums' in London, included the Bethnal Green Museum which received scientific objects unable to be housed at South Kensington. This proposal was later abandoned and in 1909, the Victoria and Albert Museum was completed to house the art collections. The science collections were separately styled as the Science Museum. A departmental committee under Sir Hugh Bell recommended the building of Eastern, Central and Western blocks for the new museum. The files record the construction of the Eastern block which opened in 1928 to house the continually expanding collections as well as the initial plans for the subsequent Central block which opened in 1963.

The papers are arranged alphabetically under subject headings. The series on ‘Special’ or temporary exhibitions cover the period from the 1940s - 1950s and are arranged by the title of the displays. Files on Museum Collections: Schemes for Development are ordered according to the category of the collection which was also how the objects were grouped and exhibited in the galleries. The administration files show how the arrangements by which new objects were selected, cared for and presented developed over time as the collections grew. Files relating to museums and art galleries in the UK and overseas provide a snapshot of the major institutions from the 1930s – 1950s.

The files were transferred to the Public Record Office (PRO) in the 1970s but were returned to South Kensington in 1988 following the Museum's Trustee status. They now form part of the Museum's own archive collection but they retain the PRO arrangement and reference (ED/79).