Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust facts for kids
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The location of the Falkland Islands Museum since 2014
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| Location | Stanley, Falkland Islands |
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| Owner | Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust (FIMNT) |
The Falkland Islands Museum is located in Stanley, the capital city of the Falkland Islands. Stanley is found in the South Atlantic Ocean. The museum is at the old dockyard site, which is a place with a lot of history.
A group called the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust (FIMNT) runs the museum. This group is a registered charity, which means it's a non-profit organization that helps good causes. The museum collects items about the nature and history of the Falkland Islands. The FIMNT also helps protect important historical places and old buildings across the islands.
The museum has a cool interactive room. Here, you can learn about the people of the Falkland Islands during the 1982 conflict. There's also a big section about sea history. This area is large enough to show off big items that couldn't be displayed before.
The museum now has more than 5,000 items in its collection. Even with the new space, finding enough room for everything is still a challenge. The collection includes pictures, drawings, photos, old papers, spoken stories, films, videos, and old documents.
History of the Museum
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The idea to create a museum for the Falkland Islands started a long time ago. In the early 1900s, Mrs. Allardyce, whose husband was the governor, wanted to gather items about the colony's history.
The governor, Sir William Lamond Allardyce, officially opened the museum on November 9, 1909. This happened just before he and his wife left the islands.
The first collection was called a "collection of curiosities." It was kept in the old Infant School building. It had many different items, some of which were not even from the Falklands. For example, it had hair from a prehistoric Mylodon (a giant sloth) found in South America. It also had a collection of local bird eggs, stones from a sea lion's stomach, and a fossilized shell.
The museum later moved to the ground floor of the Town Hall. It kept adding more items to its natural history collection. Sadly, most of the collection was lost when the Town Hall burned down on April 16, 1944.
In the 1960s, a small museum was set up by volunteers. It was in one of the back rooms of the town's gymnasium building. The museum quickly became too big for this small space. The Falkland Islands Company then offered two rooms in their Crozier Place building, and the museum moved there.
During the Argentine occupation in 1982, the museum's collection was carefully packed away. This was done to keep everything safe.
In 1987, people decided to reopen the museum in a building called "Britannia House." This building was a good choice because it was available right away. Britannia House was built in 1981 for an Argentine airline. After the occupation ended, the house was renamed. It was used by British military commanders until 1985.
The museum in Britannia House officially opened on February 13, 1989. It was opened by the former governor, Sir Rex Hunt. Moving the museum to its current location took several years. This was because it took time to raise enough money for the project.
The new historic dockyard museum opened on September 6, 2014. In 2010, the museum received a complete collection of National Stamps from 1878 to 1999. In August 2020, the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands approved money to help the museum. This money would support the Lookout Gallery and Exhibition Hall.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de las Islas Malvinas para niños
