The York Residency Museum

Convicts, ceramics and Chinese market gardeners are just a few of the fascinating subjects revealed at The York Residency Museum, York's treasure-house of history. This 1856 heritage building, was originally part of a Convict Hiring Depot, then the official residence of York's early magistrates. As you tread the lovingly polished floorboards it's easy to imagine it as the home of one of the pillars of early York society. Locally made jarrah wood furniture intermingles with oil paintings, samplers and photographs from the mid to late 19th century. See if you can find the chair made entirely without screws or nails. The faces, full of character, of three ex-convicts greet you in an unusual photographic portrait hanging above displays of Aboriginal artefacts- poignant reminders that settlement did not please everyone. Definitely not just another 'dusty old place', the York Residency Museum shows aspects of civic and religious life in the emerging town with leisure time, school days and health as selected themes plus displays of personal possessions, ceramics and silverware. Visiting Residency Museum gives you the perfect opportunity to relax unwind and get a glimpse into the lives of the people who created York - people as unique as you....