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A visit to a well-run, well-supported Museum such as Bayworld can be an
exciting adventure and an exploration into all aspects of our
environment - be it nature or culture.
The Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld is the third oldest
museum in South Africa. In 1856 land was granted to the
Municipality for the erection of a Town Hall, municipal offices, library
and Athenaeum. A small room was set aside in the Athenaeum for the
collection of unusual natural history specimens and the following notice
appeared in the Eastern Province Herald of 2 September 1856:
"Port Elizabeth Athenaeum
Patron: His Excellency, the Governor
A museum having been commenced in connection with this society,
contributions addressed to the care of the Secretary
will be thankfully received and acknowledged.
By Order of the Committee
W.Selwyn, Honorary Secretary
Port Elizabeth September 2 1856"
The response was apathetic and it was only in 1885
that the Museum acquired new premises in a room behind the Feathermarket
Hall. It took a further twelve years before the institution became known
as the Port Elizabeth Museum in 1897, with Mr Marshall as the
first Curator.
In 1906 the somewhat badly run Museum received a
welcome boost with the appointment of the dynamic Mr FW Fitzsimons as
Director. He re-organised and extended the displays and soon had 7000
residents of the sleepy town of Port Elizabeth attending his “Popular
Nights”, where the Museum offered exhibitions of live snakes and magic
lantern shows. The collections expanded and rapidly outgrew the
allocated space.
It was with relief that in 1919 the Museum was able to
move to the luxurious mansion in Bird Street, bequeathed by AW Guthrie.
The Snake Park opened in the spacious grounds - the first of its type
worldwide. Demonstrations by snake handler, Johannes, were immensely
popular. He is reputed to have been bitten on average once a year for
the 30 years he was on the staff, eventually dying of old age!
In 1933 a newly constructed Seal Pool opened, but the
smell and guttural bickering and barking at night intruded on the
lifestyle of the elite residents of Bird Street. Following a court case,
the pool closed and the seals were banished.
During World War II, under the Directorship of Dr John
Pringle, the museum played a pivotal role in supplying snake serum to
the SA Institute for Medical Research to be used by the Allied Forces
serving in snake-infested areas of Africa.
In 1942 the Museum School was established, bringing a
new, exciting method of education to many. Specimens, contained in
suitable boxes, were lent to schools to further pupils’ knowledge of
animals, plants and cultural objects.
Great excitement was generated in Port Elizabeth when King
George VI of Great Britain and his family visited the Museum and Snake
Park in 1947 on their Royal tour of South Africa.
The foundation stone of the present Port Elizabeth Museum
Complex was laid on 11 November 1958 with the new Snake Park
being constructed and opened a year later during Dr Geoff McLachlan’s
tenure as Director. The transfer of all museum specimens from Bird
Street to the new buildings on the beachfront included the large whale
skeleton presently on display in the Marine Hall – a monumental task.
Dr John Grindley was the incumbent Director when the charming
Georgian house museum in Central, No 7 Castle Hill, was incorporated
into the Museum Complex in 1968. During that year too, on 12
December, the Dolphin Lake was opened with dolphin Dimple obligingly
producing a calf that very morning. Dolly was christened after a
nationwide competition to select a name. She died in February 2005 at
the age of 37 years and was believed to be the oldest surviving dolphin
conceived and born in an Oceanarium anywhere in the world.
The Tropical House, with its wonderful plants, bird life /
flamingoes, crocodiles and Night House with nocturnal animals such as
nagapies and owls, opened to the public in 1972. The striking
murals on the exterior of the building were created by Port Elizabeth
sculptor, Phil Kolbe.
During Dr John Wallace's period as Director, the education
and research sectors of the Museum expanded rapidly with new classrooms,
office space, laboratories and storerooms being built. The Museum shop
and Ice-cream Parlour came into being and the Snake Park acquired a
modern entrance. An innovative and immensely popular Children's Touch
Museum was established in the small, redundant Old Post Office building
across the road from the main complex. The Shipwreck and Maritime
History Hall was opened in 1986 and won acclaim as the best of
its type in South Africa.
Research in dinosaur paleontology, sharks, marine mammals,
maritime archaeology, local history and herpetology progressed apace
during Dr Mike Raath's term as Director. Computers were introduced to
all departments and rapid progress was made in the technological field.
He oversaw the transition to the new democracy in 1994 and was
fully involved in endeavouring to keep museums to the forefront in the
new regime.
Mrs Sylvia van Zyl became Director in 1996. The
courtyard and amphitheatre were built as part of an RDP project and a
ramp for the disabled was incorporated into the present Museum building,
utilizing courtyard space. Progress was made in transforming Bayworld
staff and Board of Trustees to be more representative of the population
dynamics. The diverse and colourful Costume Hall, opened in 1997,
depicts the vibrancy and diversity of the rainbow nation and has proved
popular with the public. An exhibition on Sharks – Magnificent and
Misunderstood was opened in 1999.
Many temporary displays addressing current issues have since
been hosted. These have included Triumph over Adversity – a
collaborative exhibition with organisations involved with the disabled,
the extremely emotive Robben Island Reunion exhibition which tells the
story of Robben Island since its discovery by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488,
through its dark days as a maximum security prison, culminating in the
release of Nelson Mandela and other detainees in 1990, the Umcebo Banner
Project - a series of themed banners made by mentally handicapped
learners from Ningizimu School for the Severely Mentally Handicapped in
Durban, Keiskamma Cream Tapestry depicting the history of the Eastern
Cape over 100 m of vivid and expressive embroidery and beadwork and a
photographic exhibition by Dr Peter Magubane entitled Madiba: Man of
Destiny
Bayworld is now facing an exciting future with a modern
facelift in the pipeline. The proposed redevelopment will ensure a world
class visitor attraction with a totally unique experience of the "World
in the Bay, and the Bay in the World".
Source: official web of
Bayworld (2009)
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