John Paul Jones Museum

JOB OPPORTUNITY – DEADLINE 5PM ON WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 

Part time Seasonal VISITOR SERVICES OFFICER wanted for John Paul Jones Cottage and Museum, Kirkbean, Dumfries, minimum of 26 hours per week @ £8.00 per hour.

We are looking for a friendly, reliable and trustworthy person to join our small staff team responsible for welcoming visitors to our museum and looking after our premises. You will have excellent communication and customer care skills, experience of working with people and maintaining facilities and a commitment to the highest possible standards of visitor satisfaction, presentation and housekeeping. You will be able to show initiative and creativity in promoting the museum, fundraising and organising events and activities.

You will be available to commence work on Friday 30 March 2018 until the end of the season on 30 September 2018. Working days are 10.30am–5pm Tuesday to Friday plus 10.30am–5pm on six Mondays (second Monday of the month April - September). The premises are open April to September, 10.30am–5pm all week. The wage rate is £8.00 per hour.

Further information and application form available from Dumfries Museum: Dumfries.Museum@dumgal.gov.uk – please use the subject line ‘John Paul Jones Museum'.

Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday 7 March and interviews will be held w/C 12 March 2018.

The Trust receives financial support from Dumfries and Galloway Council. Registered Scottish Charity SCO20479


U>S> NAvy at the John Paul Jones Museum Scotland July 2016
 

U.S. Navy join July 4th celebrations at John Paul Jones Museum

Officers from the United States Navy attended a special American Independence Day event at the John Paul Jones Museum on Sunday, July 3rd, 2016. 

The event was also attended by members of the TS John Paul Jones Sea Cadets, Border TV and visitors to the Museum on Arbigland Estate, Kirkbean.

Following a welcome from the Chairman of the Museum's Trustees, Captain Pratt of the U.S. Navy read a goodwill message from the Commander of the USS John Paul Jones, Scott Rosetti, followed by and exchange of memorabilia. The USS John Paul Jones is stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The Africadabra drummers and a ukulele band provided the entertainment along with a Sea Cadets demonstration, a parade of hounds and a tree planting ceremony and dedication. There were also refreshments.

The event was hailed a great success by the organisers with the weather largely holding out. 

The Museum is open every day throughout July and August from 10.30am to 5pm.

Admission: Adults £4.50, Concessions £4.00. Children under 12 free. 

Situated in the grounds of Arbigland Estate, near Kirkbean, DG2 8BQ, 13 miles SW of Dumfries on the A710.

The cottage is furnished in the style of the 1700s when John Paul Jones was born. Through headsets, ‘his mother’ describes life in the cottage. A multi-projector audio-visual programme is presented in the reconstructed cabin of his ship ‘Bonhomme Richard’ in which he defeated HMS Serapis off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, in 1779.

The inviting visitor centre also boasts an interpretive exhibition on the life of ‘The Father of the American Navy' with video presentations.

For further information, telephone: +44 (0)1387 880613.

All images Copyright: Kirkbean.org

Young pirates enjoying a visit to the John Paul Jones Museum near Kirkbean, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
 
Entertainment at The John Paul Jones Museum, Kirkbean, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
 
Visitors pictured at an American Indpendence Day event held at the John Paul Jones Museum in Scotland
 

Visit the John Paul Jones Museum website.

Civic Head of Dumfries and Galloway Council, Ted Thompson presents a gift to Ms Susan Wilson, Principal Officer for the US Consulate General in Edinburgh
Some of the guests at the visit of Susan Wilson, Principal Officer for the US Consulate General in Edinburgh on September 23rd, 2016
 
Members of the John Paul Jones Museum Trust including John McMyn and Diane Lilley
Peter Jeal of Dalbeattie Chamber of Trade and Commerce and Great-Value-Websites.com, Harry Thomson of D&G Council and members of the John Paul Jones Museum Trust

A rather unusual event took place at the John Paul Jones Museum on September 23rd when Civic Head of Dumfries and Galloway Council, Ted Thompson welcomed Ms Susan Wilson, Principal Officer for the US Consulate General in Edinburgh, to celebrate a Franco-American victory over the British Royal Navy.

It was on this very day in 1779 that the squadron led by John Paul Jones took part in the Battle of Flamborough Head in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast and hugely embarrassed the Royal Navy by defeating the merchant convoy and the two escort vessels there to protect it. Jones was hardly revered by the British, but his victory at Flamborough Head surely cemented his stature in the naval history of the United States.

Numerous local dignitaries were invited to the event including John McMyn of the Kirkbean Heritage Society; Alf Hannay, Chairman of the Museum Trust; local Councillors Alistair Witts and Rob Davidson; Dalbeattie Chamber of Trade and Commerce Chairman Peter Jeal; and Diane Lilley, trustee of DG Unlimited, The Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of the Arts.

The John Paul Jones Museum, Kirkbean, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

The John Paul Jones Museum at Arbigland. Image: Kirkbean.org