Melbourne & Australian Architecture Topics

I'm researching the life and business of Thomas Gaunt, who had his clock and jewellery shop at the NW corner of the Royal Arcade from 1870 onwards. Does anyone know of any photos or drawings of the interior of the shop, up to about 1895? Any leads will be much appreciated.

Thanks for posting but please note that use of this forum purely for professional research is strongly discouraged. Particularly for first posts. If this is private research thats ok, but otherwise please proceed with caution and be clear to us about your background and motives, as soliciting research is frowned upon on these forums.

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Australian Terrace

Sorry for giving the wrong impression - this is entirely private research. Gaunt was my great-great-grandfather and I've been putting together as much as I can find out about him, simply as a hobby. I have an image of his first shop at Post Office Place, so I'd love to get one of the Royal Arcade as well - if such a thing exists. So far I haven't been able to find one.

A quick search produced 3 photos of T. Guant & Co shops.

The first one is from 1869 and is probably the one you have already referred to.



The second photo shows the front of the Royal Arcade in around 1900 with the big clock face (in the left hand side of the photograph) next door to the London Stores.



The third photo shows the front of the Royal Arcade in around 1910 with the big clock face (in the right hand side of the photograph).



Also the Monash University Library in the Matheson Library Rare Books section has a 12 page Gaunt's rings catalog from T. Gaunt & Co. Pty. Ltd. Watchmakers, Jewellers, Opticians 337-339 Bourke Street, Melbourne dated 1940 which is available for public viewing if you want to go and have a look it may have a picture of the shop.

The following drawings and photo will give an idea of what the T. Gaunt & Co shop front would have looked like inside the Royal Arcade in the 1870's.

In respect of these images the T. Gaunt's shop would have been the first shop (next to the entrance) on the left when looking from inside the arcade towards the Bourke Street entrance.

Thanks for the great images!

As well as being a jeweller Thomas Gaunt made turret clocks for many public buildings around the state. Here are some:
- Melbourne General Cemetery gatehouse 1869
- Parliament House Melbourne 1872
- Koroit Post Office c1872
- Melbourne Customs House 1877
- Hotham (North Melbourne) Town Hall 1879
- Castlemaine Post Office 1879
- Eastern Market 1879
- Emerald Hill (South Melbourne) Town Hall 1880
- Flinders St Station 'Watertower' clock 1882
- Austin Hospital 1882
- Mt Gambier Town Hall 1883
- Shepparton Post Office c1883
- Geelong West Town Hall 1884
- Sandhurst (Bendigo) Post Office 1887
- Hawthorn Town Hall c1888
- Collingwood Town Hall 1888
- Melbourne GPO 1890
- Malvern Town Hall 1891
- Port Melbourne Town Hall 1891
- Olderfleet 1891

Some of these have fallen victim to modernisation, removal or the demolition of their buildings but many are still "alive and ticking". The most famous in Gaunt's day was the 1876 racing chronometer at the Flemington Racecourse, which was mounted on the back of the judge's box - the design still hadn't been replicated as late as 1910. Probably his best-known clock in the long term was Gaunt's Clock in the Royal Arcade, which was finished and installed after his death. The business continued until it was split up in 1949-51 and the jewellery part was bought by Edment's; the shop continued trading, under first the Edments and then the Prouds name, until the 1980s.