▁to ▁the ▁Tr ades c ants ' ▁property ▁in ▁ 1 6 7 4 ▁and ▁had ▁already ▁removed ▁some ▁items ▁from ▁their ▁house ▁into ▁his . ▁In ▁ 1 6 7 8 , ▁in ▁the ▁midst ▁of ▁further ▁legal ▁wr ang ling ▁over ▁the ▁Tr ades c ant ▁Collection , ▁H ester ▁was ▁found ▁d rown ed ▁in ▁a ▁garden ▁p ond . ▁By ▁early ▁ 1 6 7 9 , ▁Ash m ole ▁had ▁taken ▁over ▁the ▁le ase ▁of ▁the ▁Tr ades c ant ▁property ▁and ▁began ▁mer ging ▁his ▁and ▁their ▁collections ▁into ▁one . ▁The ▁Ash m olean ▁Museum ▁was ▁completed ▁in ▁ 1 6 8 3 , ▁and ▁is ▁considered ▁by ▁some ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁first ▁truly ▁public ▁museum ▁in ▁Europe . ▁According ▁to ▁Anthony ▁Wood , ▁the ▁collection ▁filled ▁twelve ▁w ag ons ▁when ▁it ▁was ▁transferred ▁to ▁Oxford . ▁It ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁more , ▁but ▁a ▁large ▁part ▁of ▁Ash m ole ' s ▁own ▁collection , ▁dest ined ▁for ▁the ▁museum , ▁including ▁anti qu ities , ▁books , ▁manuscript s , ▁prints , ▁and ▁ 9 , 0 0 0 ▁co ins ▁and ▁med als , ▁was ▁destroyed ▁in ▁a ▁dis astr ous ▁fire ▁in ▁the ▁Middle ▁Temple ▁on ▁ 2 6 ▁January ▁ 1 6 7 9 . ▁As ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁the ▁fire , ▁the ▁proportion ▁of ▁the ▁collection ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁Tr ades c ants ▁was ▁larger ▁than ▁originally ▁anticip ated ▁and ▁in ▁the ▁opinion ▁of ▁Professor ▁Michael ▁Hunter ▁this