| Description | This series consists of the papers of the Attendant in charge of the Index Museum and his assistants. It includes reports to the Director, correspondence about curatorial and exhibition techniques, notes on specimens, layouts for cases and diaries. Three specimen registers run from 1884-1936, and a series of daybooks record progress on exhibits in the different bays from 1905 onwards. Other records in the class include correspondence and memoranda 1913- 1937, monthly reports to the Director 1919-1936, and notes on particular displays. A file of suggestions for future displays by A B Hastings and J R Norman, 1938-1941, point the way to post-war developments, which are documented in DF700. |
| AdminHistory | The idea of an Index Museum in the Central Hall of the museum came from Richard Owen who, in 1859, had written that it should 'show the type-characters of the principal groups of organized beings,' and act as an introduction to the specialised galleries. When the Museum opened in 1881, the side bays contained exhibits on the major groups of animals and plants, while the centre was reserved for very large specimens and exhibits illustrating general laws and points of interest that could not be dealt with elsewhere. The Index Museum was the only display area controlled by the Director rather than the departments, and Flower, Lankester and Harmer, in particular, took a close interest in its development. C A Wray was a member of the Director's Office and worked closely with successive directors.
The keepers' antipathy towards Owen's Index Museum is made clear in the pamphlet printed for the Trustees in 1880, which is the earliest item in the series.
The first member of staff devoted to the Index Museum was Arthur Edwin Horn, who served as boy attendant from 1885-1892. Charles Arthur Wray, who had been a boy attendant in Geology from 1891, was appointed to the Index Museum in 1894 and served until 1936, when he retired as a Higher Grade Clerk. Wray was assisted by two temporary workers: Walter George Ridewood (1864-1921), who worked on the preparation of the morphological series from 1888-1917, and G R Brook, who worked from 1919.
References:
British Museum (Natural History), 1891. General guide to the British Museum (Natural History) [London] Pp. 22-31.
[Owen, Sir R], 1882. Guide to the Index Museum. Aves. London. |