Story: Culture and recreation in the city

Interior of Canterbury Museum, 1890

Interior of Canterbury Museum, 1890

By 1870 Christchurch, like Wellington and Auckland, had a museum. However, it was not primarily a place to entertain huge numbers of visitors. The museum was largely established on the initiative of the provincial geologist Julius von Haast, who saw it as an institution of scientific research and education. This view of the interior of the museum in 1890 shows a large display of moa bones. The museum's extensive collection of such bones, mainly collected from a swamp at Glenmark in north Canterbury, was traded with overseas museums for other objects and curiosities.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-9484

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Culture and recreation in the city - Organised culture before 1900', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/25672/interior-of-canterbury-museum-1890 (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 11 Mar 2010