Today is the 100th anniversary of the Manx Museum.

‘One hour spent in a museum will be worth many hours spent over a book.’

These words from the then Lieutenant Governor Sir William Fry were reported on November 4, 1922, by the Isle of Man Times, which covered the opening ceremony of the Manx Museum.

Sir William was invited to be the first visitor through the museum turnstiles and in his speech noted that for Manx people to ‘preserve their nationality and their own culture… they should have a store house for the antiquities of the past’.’

It was announced that admission to the Manx Museum would be free for the winter and admission is still free today, 100 years later.

The centenary is celebrated in Museum 100, a yearlong major exhibition, which has been 18 months in the planning and features a kaleidoscope of over 150 objects and treasures from the Manx Museum’s collections.

PMC Kermode was the first director of the museum.