| Administrative History | The 'Tay Whale' was landed by fishermen in Stonehaven harbour on 31 December 1883 and sold at public auction to John Woods, an oil merchant from Dundee. Woods had high hopes of becoming rich on the profits to be had from its oil, but by the time it reached Dundee it was badly decomposing and his hopes were dashed. He invited Sir John Struthers, Professor of Anatomy, whom he had out-bid at the auction, to come to Dundee and dissect it as he had originally hoped to do. Determined to make some money from the episode, Woods sold tickets for the dissection and afterwards sent the embalmed whale on a tour of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
In August 1884, having completed its grand tour, Struthers was invited back to Dundee to remove the whale's skull and remaining bones. Once his work was completed, the skeleton was re-articulated and gifted by Woods to the City of Dundee, where it was assembled in the Albert Institute (now McManus Galleries), in November 1884. |