Norfolk Island Museum is a museum organisation on
Norfolk Island, an external territory of
Australia in the southern Pacific Ocean. The museum comprises five sites and collections that include archaeological, archival and social history objects that reflect subsequent waves of forced migration to the island.
Sites
Norfolk Island Lighter Boat, with Pier Store in background
Collections held by Norfolk Island Museum include material excavated from the HMS Sirius during a research programme led by Graham Henderson in the 1980s.[4] This consists of over 6000 objects.[5] The collection also includes material from archaeological excavations on the island, both prehistoric and historic, including material excavated during the Norfolk Island Prehistory Project.[6] Objects include yolla stones, which are a kind of grater.[7]
The archaeological collections are extensively catalogued.[8] The collection include objects relating to the social history of the islands, for example buildings such as the Paradise Hotel.[9] There are also 14,000 objects relating to the history of the penal colonies.[10] The collections also include objects acquired by the Norfolk Island Historical Society, such as the Bounty Ring.[11]
Archival collections include the diaries of missionary
Julia Coleridge Farr, who kept diaries during her stay on the island in the 1890s. The physical copies of these have been digitised.[12] The holdings also include early maps of the island.[13]