A Queensland collector has bestowed a pleasant surprise on the Parish of St Silas, Albert Park, after finding a silver trowel commemorating the laying of the church's foundation stone, on the online auction site Ebay.
The trowel was presented to Lord Stonehaven, the eighth Governor-General of Australia, after he lay the foundation stone in April, 1925. After the collector made his purchase and recognized its history, he rang the church and offered to donate the trowel back.
Vicar of St Silas, Archdeacon Ray McInnes said, ""We were delighted to accept this very generous offer of St Silas memorabilia. And to think it was kindly sent to us from Queensland makes it a very special gift.""
The trowel will be mounted and displayed in the church alongside an earlier commemorative trowel, presented to the Most Reverend H Lowther Clarke, Archbishop of Melbourne, on the laying of the foundation stone of the St Silas parsonage (sic) in 1910.