The South Australian Maritime Museum preserves the oldest nautical collection in Australia. In 1872 the Port Adelaide Institute began a museum collection to complement its library and its educational and social programs. That collection grew over the following century reflecting the seafarers and the ships that visited Port Adelaide. It is now held in trust at the South Australian Maritime Museum.
The Maritime Museum’s collections ranges from the Port Adelaide Lighthouse that was first lit in 1869 to a plaque that explorer Matthew Flinders left at Memory Cove in 1802 to mark the loss of eight seafarers. It includes figureheads, nautical instruments, bathing costumes, shipwreck artefacts, paintings, models and vessels.
Our scope is the maritime heritage of South Australia from the coast to inland waters. The collection of over almost 20,000 objects and over 20,000 images is at once a window to the heritage of the local community and to the ships of the world.
Telescope from the ship Africaine
Caption: Telescope , John Finaly Duff
AccessionNo: HT 2000.0735
Material: Glass, brass, leather
Date Created: c1836
Physical Description:
Telescope inscribed 'John Finlay Duff LONDON, "Africaine"'. Captain John Finlay Duff's telescope was given to Mary Draper by her grandfather Stuart Duncan Duff (captain Duff's youngest child) in 1940. Mary held on to the telescope until after a visit to the South Australian Maritime Museum. She felt the Museum would offer 'a home for it where it would be welcome'.
Provenance:
Telescope inscribed 'John Finlay Duff LONDON, "Africaine"'.
Captain John Finlay Duff's telescope was given to Mary Draper by her grandfather Stuart Duncan Duff (captain Duff's youngest child) in 1940. Mary held on to the telescope until after a visit to the South Australian Maritime Museum. She felt the Museum would offer 'a home for it where it would be welcome'.