Merseyside Memories: Volunteer's voyage to the top at museum

By Runcorn And Widnes Weekly News on Oct 14, 09 10:14 AM in 2000 onwards

THE new director of the Merseyside Maritime Museum is Rachel Mulhearn, who started as a volunteer in the museum's archives.

Local woman Rachel, who graduated from Liverpool University, says: "I want to make sure that future developments at the museum keep us firmly on the world stage as one of the leading maritime museums.

"Merseyside Maritime Museum had more than a million visitors in 2008 and has the highest visitor figures of all the seven National Museums Liverpool venues.

"Since Merseyside Maritime Museum opened in 1984, a lot of other exciting maritime museums have been created around the world. It is a continuing challenge to satisfy the huge appetite for everything to do with the sea.

"Liverpool has some of the best maritime history in the world of all and the job of our maritime museum is to present these exciting stories in a way which will appeal to everyone."

Rachel's first task during her six months as a volunteer in 1988 was going through emigration lists on microfilm.

She was appointed an assistant curator of maritime history in 1989 before becoming registrar in 1991 managing the Maritime Museum's extensive collections.

Rachel, who is married with two children, became curator of maritime collections in 1997.

In 2005 she was appointed curator of maritime history. Highlights of her career include working on the museum's Life at Sea gallery and the ground-breaking International Slavery Museum, which opened in 2007.

Rachel says her seafarer father was the main influence on her chosen career: "My upbringing and experiences in Liverpool were focused through the prism of my dad's vivid stories of the ships he sailed on, the places he visited and the people he met around the world."

Entry to the museum in the Albert Dock is free. It opens every day from 10am-5pm.
For more details, call 0151 478 4499.

The above picture shows Rachel Mulhearn, the new curator of the Maritime Museum in Liverpool.

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