Inside Whitby Museum

Whitby Museum is home to a fascinating eclectic collection of artefacts. I could have spent hours wandering around inside. Luckily, my entrance ticket gives me unlimited access for a year, so I will definitely go back!

Some highlights are:

> A narwhal skeleton donated in 1834.
> A collection of over 1800 fossils donated by Martin Simpson in 1841.
> Lots of decorative and functional items from all four corners of the globe 🌎, brought back to Whitby by sea captains.
> Many examples of Whitby jet, including a medallion of Queen Victoria made by John William Barker and presented to the museum as a jubilee gift.
>A model of the covered crow's nest invented by William Scores by Senior of Whitby. It was first used in 1807. It was entered by a trap door at the bottom and was fitted with racks inside for a telescope, a speaking trumpet, and a signal flag.
> The Hand of Glory - a mummified human hand - said to be the hand of a hanged man, used by burglars to prevent them being discovered. The hand became a candle holder for a special candle which, when lit, put all the sleepers in a house into a trance from which they couldn't be roused. Sometimes, the fingers of such a hand were lit, in which case, if the thumb 👍 refused to light, it meant someone in the house was still awake. The flame 🔥 couldn't be put out with water. It could only be put out with blood or milk. The hand on display in the museum was found in the early 1900s and donated to the museum in 1935. Experts believe it could have been used as late as 1820.
> Lots of textiles and local fabric crafts (my passion!). Some of the items are unfinished so you can see the craftsperson's work very clearly.
> Examples of colourful coral 🪸 brought back to Whitby on ships 🚢, long before mankind realised the folly of removing such items from their natural habitat.
> A fascinating collection of models (mainly ships 🚢) displayed inside bottles and light bulbs.

But, drumroll please, the star of the collection is:

> A copy of Dr. George Merryweather's 1850 leech-operated 'Atmospheric Electromagnetic Telegraph conducted by Animal Instinct' or 'Tempest Prognosticator'.

Merryweather observed that the ordinary medicinal leech is particularly sensitive to the atmospheric conditions generated before the occurrence of electric storms. His invention consisted of 12 pint glass bottles set around a circular stand under a bell 🔔 which was surrounded by 12 hammers. Each hammer was attached by wire to a piece of whalebone set loosely in the neck of one of the bottles. An inch and a half of rainwater was poured into each bottle. A leech was then placed in every one. The electromagnetic state of the atmosphere caused a number of leeches to climb up into the tubes. When they did this, they displaced the whalebone and caused the bell to ring. When several bells rang in succession, a storm was 'prognosticated' or forecast.

Merryweather tested his machine for over a year before demonstrating it at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He posted a letter to Henry Belcher, President of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, as soon as each storm was predicted. At that time, there were multiple postal deliveries every day, ensuring that the letter would be postmarked with both the date and time before the storm came, thus proving the prediction true.

Dr. Merryweather designed 6 different versions of the Prognosticator to suit differing pockets. He anticipated that they would be widely used on ships 🚢 all over the world 🌎. However, the design failed to catch on!

A comment from an early visitor to the museum went as follows:

'Exhibits are displayed and described in such a way as can be understood by the man in the street, which all museums are not.'

This remains true for Whitby Museum today.Läs mer