Macleay Museum

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title: "Macleay Museum" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["university-of-sydney-buildings", "museums-in-sydney", "natural-history-museums-in-australia", "buildings-and-structures-completed-in-1887", "university-museums-in-australia", "1887-establishments-in-australia", "george-allen-mansfield-buildings", "museums-established-in-1887", "2016-disestablishments-in-australia", "defunct-museums-in-australia", "museums-disestablished-in-2016", "macleay-family"] topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macleay_Museum" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox museum"]

Field	Value
name	Macleay Museum
image	Macleay Museum.jpg
image_upright	1.4
caption	Edgeworth David Building, next to the Macleay Building that housed the Macleay Museum
coordinates
former_name	Museum of Antiquities
established
dissolved
location	Science Road, The University of Sydney, , New South Wales, Australia
type	Natural history museum
collections
collection_size	79,000+
founder
leader_type	Director, University Museums
leader	David Ellis
(since 2013)
curator
architect	George Allen Mansfield
owner	The University of Sydney
website
embed	yes
designation1	NSW HD
designation1_offname	Macleay Museum; Macleay Museum Building, University of Sydney Including Interior
designation1_type	Local government heritage (built)
designation1_date	14 December 2012
designation1_criteria	a., c., d., e., f.
designation1_number	I79
designation1_free1name	Type
designation1_free1value	Education
designation1_free2name	Category
designation1_free2value	University
designation1_free3name	Builders
::

| name = Macleay Museum | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = | logo_upright = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Macleay Museum.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Edgeworth David Building, next to the Macleay Building that housed the Macleay Museum | map_type = | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | coordinates = | former_name = Museum of Antiquities | established = | dissolved = | location = Science Road, The University of Sydney, , New South Wales, Australia | type = Natural history museum | accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = | collection_size = 79,000+ | visitors = | founder = | executive_director = | leader_type = Director, University Museums | leader = David Ellis (since 2013) | director = | president = | ceo = | chairperson = | curator = | architect = George Allen Mansfield | historian = | owner = The University of Sydney | publictransit = | car_park = | parking = | network = | website = | embedded = | embed = yes | designation1 = NSW HD | designation1_offname = Macleay Museum; Macleay Museum Building, University of Sydney Including Interior | designation1_type = Local government heritage (built) | designation1_date = 14 December 2012 | delisted1_date = | designation1_criteria = a., c., d., e., f. | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = I79 | designation1_free1name = Type | designation1_free1value = Education | designation1_free2name = Category | designation1_free2value = University | designation1_free3name = Builders | designation1_free3value = | closed = The Macleay Museum at The University of Sydney, was a natural history museum located on the University's campus, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The museum was dissolved in 2016 and upon opening of the Chau Chak Wing Museum in 2020, its collections were amalgamated into it.

The Macleay Museum was added to the City of Sydney local government heritage list on 14 December 2012.

History

The Macleay Building in which the museum was housed was built off Science Lane within the Camperdown campus in 1887. The collections were based largely on the efforts and acquisitions of the Macleay family, one of the pre-eminent families in colonial Sydney including Alexander Macleay, William Sharp Macleay and William John Macleay. The zoologist and collector George Masters served as curator until 1912.

Collection

The strengths of the collection, now part of the Sydney University Museums, were in entomology, ethnography, scientific instruments, and historic photographs. Many of the biological specimens in the collection represented 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 was devoted to temporary exhibitions. Overall, the museum housed one of the most important natural history and ethnography collections in Australia, surpassed in Sydney only by the Australian Museum.

Gallery

Macleay Museum Interior.jpg|Inside the Macleay Museum Macleay Museum Exhibit 1.jpg Macleay Museum Exhibit 2.jpg

References

References

1. "Chau Chak Wing Museum". [[The University of Sydney]].
2. {{cite NSW HD. 2431005. Macleay Museum Building, University of Sydney Including Interior. (14 December 2012)
3. {{cite NSW HD. 4726005. Macleay Museum. ()
4. "Masters, George (1837–1912)". National Centre of Biography, [[Australian National University]].
5. (12 June 2008). "Macleay Museum". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].

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