In January 1972, three flights touched down in the United Kingdom carrying goods valued at £9.06 million. These treasures were destined for the British Museum, and included the gold death mask of the ill-fated boy pharaoh, Tutankhamun, among fifty other carefully selected grave goods. What followed was the first blockbuster, and arguably, most famous museum exhibition of all time, The Treasures of Tutankhamun. When the exhibition closed on 31 December 1972, 1.7 million visitors had queued for up to eight hours a day to view the iconic artefacts.

The public appetite for a ‘trip to the museum’ has shown no sign of abating. Museums come in all shapes and sizes, from old cinemas to factories and village churches. These days they also cover such a diverse range of subjects (the Dog Collar Museum and the Telephone Box Museum to name two) that there really is something for everyone. Alongside the obvious importance of collections management, the modern museum puts the visitor very much at its heart and accessibility has been an essential buzzword in the museum community for many years. These modern institutions, which throw their doors open to the public and welcome them with open arms, would no doubt baulk at the idea of their collections being viewed behind closed doors by a select few. But the foundations of the modern museum lay in just that – small-scale ‘cabinets of curiosity’ consumed only by wealthy and well-educated connoisseurs.

The word ‘museum’ comes from the Greek ‘mouseion’ – a place or temple set apart for study and the arts, and dedicated to the Muses, the nine mythological guardians of history, astronomy and the arts. The term ‘museum’ as we know it today, i.e. to describe a collection or building to display objects, wasn’t used in English until the mid-17th century. These early museums began as private collections of wealthy individuals, families or institutions. Objects were displayed in cabinets and access would be granted to ‘respectable’ persons, often at the whim of the owner. Collections would include rare or curious natural objects and artefacts, encompassing a range of subjects with no real attempt at curation. One of the earliest in Britain was that of botanist John Tradescant (1570–1638), a dazzling ‘collection of rarities’ which became the basis for the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The collection originated from his work travelling Europe and North Africa looking for new plant species for his wealthy patrons in England. In 1660, the Royal Armouries opened for viewing at the Tower of London. Its opening coincided with the restoration of the monarchy, providing a timely reminder of the status and splendour of English military might.

Private collections were well established on the continent in the 15th and 16th centuries, driven by the Renaissance and a growing spirit of investigation and exploration. In 1793, the Louvre opened its doors to all, becoming the first truly public museum and enabling free access to the former French royal collections. Although the British Museum opened in 1759, it would be several years before the idea of public access as we know it today would become the norm on this side of the Channel. Gaining entry to the British Museum was difficult. Prospective visitors, usually from the middle and upper classes, would have to apply in writing for admission. Even by 1800 a prospective visitor could wait two weeks for an admission ticket, permitting access for two hours only. The British Museum begun life in Montagu House, Bloomsbury, which had become the repository for the vast collection of Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753). He elected to bequeath it to the nation on his death, provided parliament pay £20k to his heirs and establish a new and freely accessible public museum to house it. Parliament accepted the terms and on 7 June 1753 an Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum received royal assent.

Another early museum, owned by collector William Bullock (1773–1849), opened firstly in Liverpool as the Museum of Natural Curiosities, before moving to 22 Piccadilly in 1809. For a shilling a ticket, visitors could see art, ethnographics and natural history objects. From 1812, the exhibitions were housed in the extravagant Egyptian Hall. Popular exhibits included relics from the Napoleonic era, and the hall continued as an exhibition and lecture theatre until its demolition in 1905.

By the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851, and its well-publicised success, the principle of the public museum was well founded. The profits of the exhibition helped to secure 87 acres of land south of Hyde Park, nicknamed ‘Albertopolis’ due to Prince Albert’s intervention; and a hub of educational colleges and learned societies was planned. By 1855 work had begun on the South Kensington Museum – a temporary iron and glass structure designed to house miscellaneous collections, including those from the Great Exhibition. The building itself was not well received but it did bring together a number of science, industrial and art collections. On its opening, The Morning Post in June 1857 reported that ‘Externally, it has no architectural pretensions to attract notice [but]… the present buildings, though devoid of external beauty, are, internally, well adapted for the purposes to which they are applied.’

Despite its lack of grandiosity, it received 14,000 visitors in its first week. Free entry was permitted on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and ‘on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays each person will have to pay an admission fee of 1d… for the instruction and recreation of persons working in the day-time, it will be lighted up every Monday and Thursday evening, from 7 to 10’ (The Morning Post, June 1857). Technological advances such as gas lighting opened up the museum to a whole new audience: the working classes. With the introduction of lit exhibition spaces in the evening, even the working man and woman could access the collections – which was essential if the museum was to be seen as a tool for cultural enlightenment and the enhancement of educational standards in the workforce. The Lady’s Newspaper in June 1852 features an article entitled ‘Holidays at the British Museum’ which details some of the treasures a visitor might see, such as ‘various phases of ancient art, brought from various parts of the world, and to trace its progress towards the glorious perfection exhibited in the sculptures in the Elgin Gallery’. Visitors were not always welcomed – even by the staff! Sir Anthony Panizzi (1789–1879), the principal librarian at the British Museum wrote in 1859 that ‘…many of them [the public] come to the Museum to pass their days comfortably and for no other purpose. They sit down musing, sleeping, reading a book or newspaper… They throw what they don’t eat on the floors, for instance orange peels in abundance, and the papers in which their victuals were wrapped up; the floors bear abundant marks of the butter and other greasy substances thrown on them.’

Developments in museum provision were mirrored across Britain throughout the century by a network of municipal museums. An increase in literacy rates and educational standards had created a culture of self-improvement – education was no longer the exclusive domain of the middle and upper classes. An increase in leisure time and the growth of transport networks meant that day trips and exhibition visits became a popular way for the working classes to spend their time. The Museums Act of 1845 enabled town councils to fund and maintain museums and a further Act in 1850 permitted boroughs with populations of 10,000 people or more to levy a rate of ½ shilling in the pound to fund the establishment of a local museum, on the condition that entry was free to all. In an era of civic pride, evidenced in the many public buildings that sprung up during the Victorian era, museums were to become lasting symbols of the Victorian spirit of improvement and industry. In July 1866, the Edinburgh Evening Courant reported on the opening of the Glasgow Museum, relating the speech given by the chairman: ‘…citizens of Glasgow we must all hail with delight the opening of such a magnificent institution as we now witness… I trust that our industrious classes will largely patronise this institution, and that its success will [be] so great that the committee may soon require to look out for larger premises, so that the institution may become one worthy of the second city of the empire.’ The local sheriff concluded that he hoped the institution was ‘one where useful instruction will be mingled with rational amusement’.

The idea of museums as a civilising influence, and a more respectable alternative to entertainment such as the music hall, made them an appealing prospect for potential benefactors. Philanthropy was at an all-time high in Victorian Britain and many institutions have their roots in the generosity of wealthy individuals such as the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool (Sir Andrew Barclay Walker’s gift to the Corporation of Liverpool) and Sir Henry Tate’s private collection, which formed the basis of the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1897. Benefit events were also arranged for the poorest sections of society, such as at the Natural History Museum, Newcastle, in August 1889. The Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported that ‘The managers of the Museum kindly offered to admit the children free, the masters of the Board and Catholic schools undertook to select the very poorest children for the purpose, and several sympathetic friends undertook to supply milk and buns sufficient to feed them before their visit.’

In 1860 Britain had 60 museums but by 1887 this number had risen to 287 (excluding national museums). By 1928 there were 530. The museum had firmly embedded itself in national life and as its popularity grew into the 20th century, the focus shifted from repositories of artefacts and treasure to community engagement and audience development. Changing programmes of exhibitions, as well as outreach, where loan collections were taken out into the community, planned events and the use of the latest technology to interpret objects have all become the norm.

In recent years, families with children have been the particular focus of many museums – the notion that even very young children can gain much from museum collections and their interpretation. This approach is a far cry from how children were received in the museum in the early 19th century. The British Museum’s Sir Anthony Panizzi wrote in 1859 that ‘a large number of children, from four to ten years of age are brought to see the museum… These visitors occasionally cry, or run about, chase each other, shout and whistle… there is no bazaar in London, no respectable shop, no exhibition room in which this is allowed.’ It is no surprise then that the noise generated by ‘babes in arms’ caused their entry to be prohibited at the museum until 1879.

The idea of what constitutes a museum has also changed. The introduction of ‘living history’ sites and open-air museums has enriched our understanding of previously underrepresented history’s such as industrial heritage, and intangible heritage such as folk traditions and customs. Such sites are not without their critics and have come under scrutiny for the ‘dumbing down’ of history due to their approach, which often leans heavily on performance as a means of interpretation. In an age where gadgetry is king and museums are competing with numerous visual mediums for a child’s attention, I for one can see no harm in a spot of dressing up. In fact, grown-ups often enjoy it too. Now where did I put my wig…?