Visit the full eHive Collection.

The La Perouse Museum collection contains nearly 700 items and many photographs relating to either the Laperouse expedition and 18th century maritime navigation, the Cable Station building itself, or local history, which includes the important traditions of Aboriginal shellwork and boomerang making at La Perouse, and Snake Shows.

One of the most significant collection items is a complete Atlas of the Voyage of Laperouse, consisting of coloured drawings and maps, featuring places the expedition visited between 1785 and 1788, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Japan, Tahiti, Samoa and finally the east coast of Australia. Plants and animals that were then regarded as highly unusual, such as the chilli plant, passionfruit and the bluebottle jellyfish, are also featured. This Atlas was generously donated to the Museum by the French Government. The collection also includes several objects salvaged from the Laperouse shipwrecks.

The Museum holds a growing number of plaques presented by the captains of visiting French ships. The crew from these ships visit La Perouse to view the Laperouse Monument and the grave of Father Receveur, and this is a continuing tradition.
Part of the collection contains 19th century cable instruments, made in London and relevant to the history of telegraphy and the interpretation of it in the Cable Station.

The long period of Salvation Army occupation is represented by children’s toys, furniture and the former Salvation Army Home for Women and Children historic sign. Local history items also include those from Happy Valley, the camp that formed at La Perouse during the Depression. These objects include kettles, a bed head and other small domestic items from the period.

The collection includes books relevant to the story of Laperouse or of French exploration in the Pacific, in French and English, and over 1000 photographs in various formats including colour prints, black and white prints and slides. Some of these document the history of the La Perouse Museum since 1988 when it was first established. Others are historic photographs of the La Perouse area.”