The Hunterian was Scotland's first public museum, opening in 1807. It is part of Glasgow University, and is today located within the main University buildings at Kelvingrove, 1½ miles (3 km) west of the city centre. The museum was endowed by William Hunter (1718 - 1783), the noted obstetrician. On his death, he gave the University the substantial sum of £8000 to create a building to hold his extensive and broad collection of anatomical specimens, works of art, coins, minerals, books and manuscripts. The original museum was to be found on Glasgow's High Street but it moved with the University to a new site on the western side of the city (1870). The art collection has subsequently transferred to a purpose-built Art Gallery (1980). The major permanent exhibition is geological in nature and covers 4500 million years of the Earth's history and includes Scottish dinosaurs, ecological displays, Glasgow's meteorite and displays of minerals and rocks. There are also displays covering early civilisations, the Romans in Scotland and an international renowned coin collection.
