The museum was established by the Royal Society as a collection of natural history objects. In 1863 with the aid of public subscriptions and a government grant the Museum moved to its present site. By 1884 the cost of maintaining the Museum (and the Botanical Gardens) were outstripping the resources of the Society and they were gifted to the colony. A collection of fine arts was developed, with the emphasis on Australian work, as well as historical, geological and zoological material illustrative of Australia and particularly Tasmania.