 Opening of the King George III Museum, King's College London, by Albert, Prince Consort on 1 July 1843. | |
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| Established | 1843 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1927 |
| Location | King's College London, London, United Kingdom |
| Type | University museum |
TheKing George III Museum was a museum withinKing's College London, England between 1843 and 1927 which held the collections ofscientific instruments ofGeorge III as well as eminent nineteenth-century scientists includingSir Charles Wheatstone andCharles Babbage. The collection of scientific and mathematical instruments assembled by George III, after whom the museum is named, was donated to the university byQueen Victoria in 1841, and the museum was opened byAlbert, Prince Consort on 1 July 1843. The museum was located within the King's Building designed bySir Robert Smirke. It counted among its collections the unfinished prototype of theDifference Engine No. 1, designed byCharles Babbage, who is considered a "father of the computer".[1] The museum closed in 1926, and much of its collections were transferred on loan to theScience Museum, London.
The scientific collections of George III were previously housed in theKew Observatory,Kew, which had been the king's private observatory, constructed to observe theTransit of Venus in 1769. In the mid-nineteenth century the government discontinued the maintenance of Kew, giving rise to the need to house the collections elsewhere.[2] The collection of electrical and mechanical apparatus for use inscientific experimentation, which had formed the nucleus of the royal collection and had served for the instruction of the royal children, was donated to the university byQueen Victoria in 1841 and the museum was opened byAlbert, Prince Consort on 1 July 1843.[2][3] The royal gift was presented to the college for the purposes of maintaining "a general course of experimental philosophy"[1] with the stipulation that it should remain intact and be associated with the name of its royal founder.[4]
The museum held the collections ofSir Charles Wheatstone, Professor of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy at King's, which were bequeathed to King's College following his death in 1875.[1] In 1926, due to space constraints within the college much of the museum's collections were transferred on loan to theScience Museum or kept in the collegearchives.[1][3]
The museum was located in a double-height galleried space opposite the Council Room in the King's Building designed bySir Robert Smirke, part of theStrand Campus.[1]
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51°30′41″N0°06′57″W / 51.5114°N 0.1159°W /51.5114; -0.1159
