Published on Thursday, 28 January 2021 at 11:00:02 AM
For the first time since the Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum opened in 1988, the community have an opportunity to provide input on the museum’s collection and its significance to the local history and heritage of Albany.
A significant assessment of the museum collection is being undertaken to research and understand the meanings and values of items within the collection and the community is being invited to play a key part in the project.
The work will explore contributing factors such as history, context, provenance, related places, memories and comparative knowledge of similar items to explain why and how the item is meaningful and how their significance can be shared with visitors.
Jointly supported by the City of Albany, National Library of Australia Community Heritage Grant and the Ellam family, the assessment covers the past 32 years of the Princess Royal Fortress’s collection.
This includes coastal guns, historic buildings, naval guns, naval devices and the Ellam-Innes Collection that was provided to the museum by the Ellam family in 2008.
Curator Princess Royal Fortress David Theodore said this significant assessment will help shape the future management of the museum’s collection.
“Significant assessments go beyond traditional catalogue descriptions of items or collections and more in depth to discover the connection that these pieces have to community and culture,” he said.
“We want community to give us their feedback on how they view the collection, what it means to them and how they connect with the content in front of them.”
Two information sessions will be held in the City of Albany’s North Road Civic Rooms on 3 February from 9am-11:30am and 12:30pm-3pm.
It is recommended that participants visit the Princess Royal Fortress site in the lead up to the information session, specifically the barracks, coastal guns, underground magazine, naval guns and surrounding buildings.
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