Nelson Provincial Museum

The Nelson Provincial Museum, Pupuri Taonga O Te Tai Ao is a regional museum in the city of Nelson, New Zealand. The museum showcases the Nelson and Tasman regions' history, from geological origins to the stories of individuals and families.

Nelson Provincial Museum holds over 1.4 million items of interest, collected during the past 160 years. Exhibitions are shown in a modern building that opened in 2005, costing NZ$5 million, funded by the community, private and public benefactors, the Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council and central government. The collections, professional staff and public research services are housed in the former museum building, which is located in Isel Park, Stoke.

Information on location, admission and opening hours can be found here

The Literary and Scientific Institution of Nelson, was founded May 1841 in the Bay of Biscay amongst the officers of the preliminary Expedition of the Second Colony, on board the New Zealand Company's ships Whitby and Will-Watch.

Prior to the expedition reaching Tenerife, a sum of money was subscribed amongst the officers. It was transmitted back to England with directions for the selection of a number of books "of a useful character", which would form the basis of the library of the Institution.

While a large number of books were acquired, subscribed to and collected by friends and associates of the Colony and Colonialists, the Committee noted that "they would be glad to receive maps, charts manuscripts, drawings, paintings, engravings, sculptures, casts, models of inventions and objects of natural history generally. These will be placed in the Museum of the Institution, and a record will be kept of the names of the donors."

In late 1842 The Literary and Scientific Institution of Nelson (the Institute) opened on Trafalgar Street, firstly as a Library (with attached Museum storehouse) and subsequently incorporating the Museum, with a membership of sixty by 1844.

By 1861 the Institute had outgrown its Trafalgar Street premises and relocated to a wooden building in Hardy Street. Fire broke out in 1906. While most of the collection was rescued, it was resolved to rebuild as a brick building, which opened in 1912. Until 1963, the Museum was located on the second level of the Institute, with the Nelson Library located on the first level.

Independence grew throughout the 1960s with the relocation of the Museum firstly to the former home of the Marsden family - Isel House, and subsequently to a concrete block construction, designed by Alex Bowman, which opened in 1973.

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