The Fredericton Region Museum will be opening its 19th Century Gallery exhibition on Thursday August 30 at 5 pm.
The gallery has been a prominent exhibition at the Museum since 2005, and the Museum is excited to hold an official opening.
Curated by Reverend Canon David R. Staples and assisted by Elizabeth Earl, the exhibition, An Assembled Drawing Room for a typical Aristocratic Fredericton Colonial Family Pre-Confederation Time, focuses on possessions that would have been owned by a prominent family during the nineteenth century.
These possessions include several pieces of mahogany furniture, a fire screen, a sofa, and a music stand. In addition to these pieces, there are also several portraits of prominent local aristocrats, including Edward Winslow Miller, and John Simcoe Saunders.
Reverend Canon D.R. Staples explains the importance of the Assembled Drawing Room as “reflecting the personal wealth and accomplishment of the persons in the portraits.” These persons, though living in New Brunswick, would have shared their talents with the community due to what Staples refers to as a “code of established English civility.”
A window into Fredericton’s past, the Assembled Drawing Room offers viewers the opportunity to explore the life of Fredericton’s aristocrats. Fredericton Region Museum summer hours are Sunday to Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm.
About the Fredericton Region Museum
The Fredericton Region Museum was founded in 1934 by the York Sunbury Historical Society. In 1959, the Museum found permanent headquarters in the Officers’ Quarters (571 Queen Street) in the heart of downtown Fredericton. The Society and Museum remain a non-profit enterprise with a small paid staff and numerous volunteers who work tirelessly to create informative exhibits based on the history of Fredericton and surrounding areas, as well as publish a local history periodical, The Officers’ Quarters.
