Gulgong - Home Rule 7 (11kms) mile post & Annis and George Bills Horse Trough. New South Wales Australia
This Home Rule 7 (11kms) mile post and Annis and George Bills Trough is located on a corner of Gulgong’s Mayne Street.
Home Rule was a very successful gold mining settlement.
George Bills was an Englishman who migrated to Australia, via New Zealand. In Brisbane he met and married Annis Swann from Sheffield, England. The couple had no children but shared a great interest in animal welfare. They ended up in Sydney making a fortune manufacturing mattresses. One thing they thought was important was to see that when a horse came into town there was somewhere for the horse to drink: some troughs also had a dog bowl at the end.
After George's death in 1927 a trust fund of approximately £80,000 was set to manufacture and provide horse troughs wherever they were needed in Australia and the United Kingdom – hence the "Annis and George Bills" trough. Most troughs read "Donated by Annis & George Bills Australia".
Reference: ABC Real Stories
Many troughs were donated and still exist with approximately 500 in Australian states.
Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands of NSW, Australia. The Wiradjuri Aboriginal people were the first occupants of the area. The Wiradjuri word “gulgong” means “deep waterhole”.
Early finds of gold were negligible until Tom Saunders discovered a rich lode on Red Hill in April 1870 and the Gulgong Gold Rush began. By June of that year 500 people were on the Gulgong Gold Fields. By 1872 an estimated 20,000 people lived in and around Gulgong. Approximately 15000kg of gold was removed from the Gulgong Gold fields between 1870 and 1880.
Gulgong - Home Rule 7 (11kms) mile post & Annis and George Bills Horse Trough. New South Wales Australia
This Home Rule 7 (11kms) mile post and Annis and George Bills Trough is located on a corner of Gulgong’s Mayne Street.
Home Rule was a very successful gold mining settlement.
George Bills was an Englishman who migrated to Australia, via New Zealand. In Brisbane he met and married Annis Swann from Sheffield, England. The couple had no children but shared a great interest in animal welfare. They ended up in Sydney making a fortune manufacturing mattresses. One thing they thought was important was to see that when a horse came into town there was somewhere for the horse to drink: some troughs also had a dog bowl at the end.
After George's death in 1927 a trust fund of approximately £80,000 was set to manufacture and provide horse troughs wherever they were needed in Australia and the United Kingdom – hence the "Annis and George Bills" trough. Most troughs read "Donated by Annis & George Bills Australia".
Reference: ABC Real Stories
Many troughs were donated and still exist with approximately 500 in Australian states.
Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands of NSW, Australia. The Wiradjuri Aboriginal people were the first occupants of the area. The Wiradjuri word “gulgong” means “deep waterhole”.
Early finds of gold were negligible until Tom Saunders discovered a rich lode on Red Hill in April 1870 and the Gulgong Gold Rush began. By June of that year 500 people were on the Gulgong Gold Fields. By 1872 an estimated 20,000 people lived in and around Gulgong. Approximately 15000kg of gold was removed from the Gulgong Gold fields between 1870 and 1880.