This is a Bill’s Trough which is also known as – a Bill’s Horse Trough. These watering troughs were built for working horses who helped us during the first half of the 20th C. In recognition and respect for the fine work these workhorses did, philanthropic animal lover George Bills, along with his wife Annis (nee Swann), set up a trust fund to build these drinking troughs.. Their philanthropy helped build 700 troughs around Australia as well as providing over 50 further troughs in other countries.
George Bills was a life governor of the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) which commenced in 1924. It was mostly in Victoria and NSW around 1930-1939 that these troughs were built out of pre-caste concrete with cured pediment. To help identification the trough’s transcription reads: “Donated by Annis and George Bills Australia”.
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