A historic Midway museum that once glorified white colonial rule and slavery has been updated to provide a more accurate interpretation of the Victorian colonial era, presenting its unique collections in a more modern fashion.
The
Major Henry Fotherington-Spume created unique displays of ‘stuffed’ animals, including elephants, apes, giraffes, rhinoceros and lions, as well as a large variety of antelopes, smaller carnivores and other herbivores of all sizes, all presented in stunning dioramas.
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| Major Henry Fotherington-Spume |
The project was partly catalysed by the awareness of cultural and race issues raised by the ‘Black Lives Matter movement’, with the aim of presenting the museum’s collections and artefacts in a fashion that respected the cultures from which they came, rather than demeaning or ignoring them.
“We recognise that our collection was steeped in an old-fashioned manner that glorified racism and colonial oppression,” trustees admitted in a self-assessment posted on Facebook in 2020.
“We recognise these failings and
the need for a more factual representation that appeals to a wider audience,
rather than just Daily Mail-reading pensioners who still think that
“To this end, we have instituted a broad programme of modernising our museum and re-representing its collection in order to reflect an appreciation of the history of African and Asian culture in the context of British colonial rule."
The interpretation of the exhibits had changed very little since the 1920s when it was first produced, initially in a standalone building as his collection grew.
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| Some stuffed lions... |
Notably absent, admitted bosses, were the stories and voices of the African and Asian communities from which the objects were acquired.
But the pandemic closure gave the museum the opportunity to address the issues and time to reflect on how better to provide greater information and explanation of the exhibits’ origins.
The exhibits had also become dated and not very visually appealing, with the language used to describe them quite inaccessible.
But funded with a grant from the Arts Council England, the re-vamp is now nearing completion.
“It's been the aim to explain things far more accurately, honestly and fairly,” said the museum’s CEO Amy Pringle, “for example, working with international partners from those countries to better understand and to use respectful language.”
“I don't think the museum believed itself to be racist and steeped in colonialism in the 1920s, but times have changed and people have changed their outlook accordingly.”
“Or at least, most of them have.”
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| A stuffed hyena... |
“We hope to present the history of the times in an accurate and balanced fashion, to give an honest and true account of the British colonial era and its effect upon indigenous African and Asian people.”
“There was lots of work and research behind the scenes. So we opened to the public, initially just for weekends and bank holidays. And we've been slowly testing out more days and now reintroduced Friday openings this year.”
Major Henry Fotherington-Spume collected thousands of African and Asian artefacts during his many cross-continental expeditions.
He was often accompanied by his two daughters who had a special interest in medicinal plants and brought back a huge number of specimens.
The animal species collection, which is one of the most remarkable of its kind in the world, also remains a significant source of scientific research.
Together, the museum is exploring the stories surrounding the objects and creating an experience that acknowledges and gives a voice to the communities of origin.
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| Fotherington-Spume: "Great White Hunter" |
“But later, it became important to him to share things more widely and not just for his own personal interest.”
“There’s a lot more we can learn from the exhibits, not just set solely around Major Henry but also around the people and cultures who helped his expeditions and those involved in taxidermy and designing the settings.”
Now the museum has re-opened for
2025 with a new permanent exhibition, which explores the rich cultures of South
Sudan,
Trustees have also tried to keep ticket prices as low as possible, which includes entry to the mansion house and the beautiful gardens, where more work is taking place to enhance its appeal and use.
Entry costs £5 for adults (£4.50 concessions) and £4 for children.
In
the real world, a sly bit of ‘culture wars’ dog-whistling click-bait gets the
trolls barking and the page views up…
Please note that we do not
moderate comments. However, we may edit or delete them, or manipulate the
voting on them in order to reflect our editorial policy.
Wingnut wrote:
Let's all wake up, sheeple. The Black lives matter woke joke
was engendered in the
Today
OldSchoolNutter wrote:
And people say cancel culture is fake and not happening.
Right here is history being cancelled. Instead of learning from it nope we'll
just bury our heads in the sand remove it from our timeline just to appease a
minority.
Exactly like that primary school in
Victor Laudanum wrote:
Wow. A museum brings its collection up-to-date and makes it
more honest and open about the past, and all of the REFORMers go berserk.
Anyone would think they are ashamed of British history, patriots that they all
profess to be.
Ancient Arsole replied:
True patriotic Englishmen know
that we bought civilisation to the rest of the world and they’d all still be
running around in jungles if it wasn’t for us. We should be proud of our
history not airbrushing it out.
Victor Laudanum replied:
That’s an amazing amount of ignorance
and prejudice you’ve crammed into such a short sentence. This museum is
‘airbrushing’ nothing, just presenting a balanced view of history. I can
understand why someone as obviously unbalanced as you are might not like that.
Neil Barse replied:
A typical insult-filled and
stupid reply from the typically stupid Far Left hateful anti British antagonist
europhile troll that is Victor Laudanum. A bitter lonely insidious individual
who's mental instability is getting worse by the day, due to the fact they fail
to annoy anyone with their constant sea-lioning and self-contradictory posting.
Completely expected every time Victor Laudanum posts on here.
Auntie Nartsie wrote:
It's enough to make you hope they go out of business within
the week. Utter lefty wokish nonsense, I won’t waste time going there.
Tornado Chaser wrote:
Have you ever been to a museum in
your life?
Auntie Nartsie replied:
Of course not. They are all full
of left-wing wokish drivel. Who cares about wokish nonsense like science,
nature, art or history, except namby-pamby bed-wetting lefties? I find out all
I need to know from my Daily Telegraph and GBNews, which is why I am so much
more inteligent and better informed than you are.
CassiusClod wrote:
As others have said, it's history. Why are people hell-bent
on changing things that happened in the past, yes it's not always right but
that's what happened.
Okay to poke fun at white people but the other way round it's racist.
Ancient Arsole replied:
If you mean other than the
current wokewashing, then you're correct.
A broad view of the direction of local, national and international politics
supports that.
The moderate silent majority have had enough and they far outnumber the rabid
loony lefties that have been screeching this vacuous dross too loudly for too
long.
Grey Mondeo Man replied:
The anti-woke (even though they
don't know what it is) culture warriors are neither silent nor moderate. And
they most certainly are not a majority. Just look at the bunch of rightists
trying to take over the National Trust. If they represent a “majority” why do
they get beaten every year in the NT's elections?
Neil Barse replied:
Yet more misinformation, insults,
lies and sealioning from the vindictive peddler of misinformation and Far-Left
hateful anti-British antagonist Europhile troll Greymondeoman.
Who is this bunch of Rightists
who you claim are trying to take over the NT?
What evidence do you have?
Grey Mondeo Man replied:
As you asked so nicely, Neil,
here you go…
https://leftfootforward.org/2024/11/attempted-right-wing-takeover-of-national-trust-fails-miserably-yet-again/
Lots of other sources along the
same lines on the internet if you can be bothered to look.
Neil Barse replied:
Yet more misinformation, insults,
lies and sealioning from the vindictive peddler of misinformation and Far-Left
hateful anti-British antagonist Europhile troll Greymondeoman. You can’t expect
anyone to believe a story from the woke, bed-wetting socialist lie factories
that you always cite.
The truth, of course, can be
found in that bastion of truth and common-sense, the Daily Mail, and would therefore
be inaccessible to a Far-Left hateful anti-British antagonist Europhile troll
like you.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13823431/National-Trust-faces-fierce-backlash-vote-make-half-food-cafe-menus-VEGAN.html
Chad Grindr wrote:
One pities the vindictive peddler
of misinformation and Far-Left hateful anti-British antagonist Europhile troll
Greymondeoman. He surrounds himself with socialist lies and fails to understand
that everyone else regards him as a deranged leftie, reduced to spewing
demented insults and abuse at anyone who disagrees with him i.e. everybody.
Yu Rong replied:
You are absolutely right as ever,
RSlickR wrote:
You are absolutely right as ever,
EnglishandProud wrote:
If the woke lefties don't like old-fashioned museums they
don’t have to go there. Why should we modernise them just to suit the wokies? This
is
Gonads replied:
If you don’t like modern museums,
then you don’t have to go to them. This is
CassiusClod replied:
But then the woke demented
lefties won't have anything to moan about and make "them" self
important.
Grey Mondeo Man replied:
It's not the “woke demented
lefties” (or "decent people", as they are otherwise known) who are
doing all of the hysterical moaning on this thread.
Yu Rong replied:
Give it a rest, no one is in the
slightest bit interested in your far-leftist drivel.
Grey Mondeo Man replied:
And yet you and your chums/alternative
user IDs reply to me every time. Were I to post drivel, why would you bother to
reply to it? As it is, I post moderation and fact.
That's why extremists like you don't like what I post and why you retaliate.
Every time. The two things you hate are moderation and fact.
Neil Barse replied:
It's not just extremists that
don't like your Far Left hateful anti British antagonist Europhile trolling GreyMondeoMan
but all the sensible actual moderate factual level headed posters on here such
as me.
Chad Grindr wrote:
That's a bit unkind Yu Rong. He
thinks he’s interesting! But then he also thinks the tosh he writes isn’t
drivel. Which is rather sad. It really, really is. Please someone, break it to
him gently.
SuperSmallDick wrote:
My local Tory councillor told me that Labo*r are planning to close all museums
and turn them into mosques for illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, another 800,000
Albanian shoplifters crossed the channel in small boats last week and are being
housed in luxury hotels while all of our pensioners freeze to death and our
farmers are reduced to living in tents as a result of being evicted from their
land because they cannot afford to pay their IHT bills. Four more years of
Starmer’s communist dictatorship, then I can vote REFORM.
Notasoviet Resident 2
wrote:
Comrades, dear Mr. Putin says for you to vote REFORM in next elections because
all other political