Historical information

St Augustine’s Church, Wodonga
The Roman Catholic religion first came to the Wodonga area with travelling clergymen in about 1843. It was not until 4th October that 1860 Bishop Goold of the Chiltern parish visited Wodonga and consecrated St. Francis Chapel, a small weatherboard building which was erected on the site of the present St Augustine’s Church.

Wodonga was officially separated from the Chiltern parish in 1899. Father James Ryan became the first Parish Priest of St Augustine's and oversaw the construction of the new church. The present St. Augustine’s was blessed and opened on 27 April 1902.
Between 1918–1919 under Father Francis Flynn, the church was extended, and significant features such as the marble altar and stained-glass windows were added. Major refurbishments were completed in 1927, including further extension of the primary school.

T. Gaunt & Co.
Thomas Gaunt arrived in Melbourne in about 1856. He was a trained clockmaker and opened a business in Bourke Street, later moving to The Royal Arcade. Although he also made and sold wrist watches, jewellery, silver and brassware, Thomas was possibly most well-known for a chronometer he donated to the Victorian Racing Club for whom he was official timekeeper. It displayed the time of a race to an accuracy of .25 of a second.

Gaunt had strong beliefs and connection to the Catholic Church of supplied much of its ecclesiastical silver and brassware such as this item.
After Thomas Gaunt died in 1890, his executors continued the business, which was renamed T. Gaunt & Co. in 1893. The company operated for almost a century before closing in 1960.

Significance

These items are significant because they were used in an important Wodonga church.

Physical description

A set of four brass vases manufactured by T Gaunt & Co.

Inscriptions & markings

Beneath each vase
T. GAUNT & Co.