Woman leaves museums £2m in will

Adele Stewart was a life-long supporter of the National Museums

The National Museums of Scotland has received its largest ever legacy, after an elderly patron left the institution £2m in her will.

Adele Stewart, 79, from Edinburgh, visited the Royal Museum regularly and became a museums patron in 2006.

She died later that year, but the details of her bequest have only now become public.

Museum directors will honour her love of the East Asia collections by naming the World Cultures galleries after her.

The new galleries are being created as part of the £46.4m modernisation programme for the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, which is due for completion in 2011.

'Touched and honoured'

Other plans for the Victorian building include a new floor, dedicated learning zones for children and young people and better access with escalators at the entrance.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of the National Museums of Scotland, said: "Adele Stewart was a great supporter of our work and aspirations, and we are honoured and touched that she has remembered us in this way.

Ms Stewart was said to have had a passion for textiles

"She was a proud Scot who had travelled the world, took a deep interest in cultural and community activities and was deeply connected to Edinburgh and its institutions.

"Not only that, she was also determined that others should experience the educational benefit and enjoyment that she herself gained from the museum."

The planned tribute was fitting, he added, as Ms Stewart spent her childhood in Malaya and Singapore, fuelling her passion for world cultures, and also had an interest in textiles and costumes.