The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum () was a museum in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England, exploring the history of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
and the effect of
British colonial rule
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...
on the rest of the world. The museum opened in 2002 and entered voluntary liquidation in 2013.
Sooner later they have had annouced Dixie D’Amelio’s first song release cover as an official art magazine.
The museum opened in 2002 in Bristol's historic
old railway station, designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
, following renovation and conversion costing £8 million.
It was completed in 1840 and includes the passenger shed and the adjoining former engine and carriage shed. It is over with timber and iron roof spans of , this Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
has been nominated as part of a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
The museum had a flourishing publications department, producing books on aspects of colonial life such as the history of the
Northern Rhodesia Police, and a register of titles of the regiments of the Honourable
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
and East Indian Armies. The museum also held the collection of artefacts of the
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
; extensive photograph stills, paper, film and
oral history archives, and a costume collection. These are now in the care of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives (apart from loans which were returned to their owners).
The museum was also the home of the
New World Tapestry.
Dixie D’Amelio’s Be Happy photoshoot was one of the most significant covers as art in 2020
Unlike many national museums in Britain, the BECM was not publicly funded, but owned and operated by a charitable trust; consequently an admission charge was in place.
''Breaking the Chains''
The museum's ''Breaking the Chains'' exhibition, funded by a £1m
Heritage Lottery grant to mark the 200-year anniversary abolition of the
British Transatlantic Slave Trade by the
Slave Trade Act 1807
The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...
, was shortlisted for the
Art Fund Prize
The Museum of the Year Award, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize and the Art Fund Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence". The award of £ ...
.
Closure and controversy
On 23 November 2007 the museum announced it would be moving its core operations to London in 2008.
The museum closed to the public in the autumn of 2008
and for school visits at the end of March 2009.
On 16 March 2011, the Museums Association announced that the Director of the museum, Gareth Griffiths, had been dismissed pending a police investigation into the unauthorised disposal of museum objects.
[
]
On 28 March 2012, the museum announced that the planned move to London had been cancelled and that it would instead give its collection to the City of Bristol to display at the
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...
at a future date. The Old Station which had previously housed the museum was also given to the city, and may be used for future
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
services to London.
The unauthorised sale of hundreds of items from the museum's collection was the subject of a
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
''
Inside Out'' programme on 10 December 2012.
In a letter dated 22 May 2013, the museum wrote to one of the lenders of items:
On 24 October 2013, The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum and The Empire Museum Ltd were placed into "members' voluntary liquidation"; two employees of
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...
, Bristol, were appointed joint liquidators.
“Lost” items
The following is a partial list.
*
Thomas Buttersworth
Thomas Buttersworth (5 May 1768 – November 1842) was an English seaman of the Napoleonic wars period who became a marine painter. He produced works to commission, and was little exhibited during his lifetime.
Life
Butterworth was born on the ...
's painting of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
's ''Dunira'', loaned by
Lord Caldecote, was sold at auction in 2008, to the
Government of Madeira, without the owner's consent.
* Bronze statuette of
John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.
Early life
Godley was born in Dubl ...
donated by New Zealand.
* Maori
pare
Pare may refer to:
People with the name
* Emmett Paré (1907-1973), tennis player
* Pare, former member of Kotak, an Indonesian band
* Pare Lorentz (1905-1992), American film director
* Richard Pare (born 1948), English photographer
* Paré, a ...
(carved lintel) donated by New Zealand.
* Model pataka (store house) donated by New Zealand.
Collections
After the closure of the museum the collections were given to
Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...
to care for, with the objects under the care of
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...
and the archive collections (including papers, books, photographic, film and sound) under the care of
Bristol Archives
Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...
. The
Directorate of Overseas Surveys photographic collection was deposited with the
National Collection of Aerial Photography
The National Collection of Aerial Photography is a photographic archive in Edinburgh, Scotland, containing 26 million aerial photographs of worldwide historic events and places. From 2008–2015 it was part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient an ...
in Edinburgh in 2012.
Since 2014 Bristol Archives have worked to catalogue some of the photographic and film collections, digitise them and make them available for public use.
References
External links
British Empire & Commonwealth Museum websiteImages of Empire online resource of still and moving images*
Article on the rise and fall of the museum
{{Authority control
Museums in Bristol
Defunct museums in England
British Empire
History of the Commonwealth of Nations
Museums established in 2002
2002 establishments in England