Whitby Museum



Whitby Museum is an independent museum in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, run by Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, a learned society and registered charity, established in 1823. It is located in a building opened in 1931 in Pannett Park, Whitby, which also contains the Society's Library and Archive.

The museum contains a wide range of material relating to the history of Whitby, and has specialist collections relating to:

The museum also contains a Hand of Glory, the dried and pickled hand of a hanged man, said to have magical powers.
 * Jurassic fossils, in particular ammonites and marine reptiles
 * Whitby jet
 * Captain James Cook and HM Bark Endeavour
 * Whitby's whaling industry.
 * The Natural History of the North Yorkshire coast and moors
 * Costume and textiles

The museum has a reference library and archive documenting the industries and social history of the town and area. This is used as a research facility.

History
Between the 1890s and 1930 the museum collection included the mummy of an Egyptian man who had died around 300 BC. The mummy had previously been owned by Sir George Elliot, 1st Baronet and was donated to the museum on his death. The mummy was purchased for £15 by Thomas Sheppard, the then curator of the Hull Municipal Museum, in 1930 and is now at the Hands On History Museum in Kingston upon Hull.