Discover the fascinating journey of Julius Brenchley and our Solomon Islands collection.
Julius Lucius Brenchley was born in Maidstone in 1816 and spent much of his life doing something most Victorians only read about: travelling the world. He visited the Pacific, the Americas, and the Far East, returning with a collection of ethnographic objects so significant that some are now shared with the British Museum — including rare artefacts from the Solomon Islands that represent some of the earliest such objects ever collected.
This evening combines a talk with a guided tour through the museum’s World Cultures gallery, bringing Brenchley’s journeys to life through the very objects he brought back.
Samantha Harris is Maidstone Museums Collection Manager of over 10 years. Her role involves caring for the over 600,000 objects in the museums collection, spotlighting the stories in the objects, and working with the team to develop new and exciting galleries.
When: Thursday 26th November 2026
Timings: 7 to 8:30pm
Price: £15 per person
Age: 16+
Places: Limited to 40 places
Accessibility: The room and our toilets are fully accessible
