Welcome to Bills Horse troughs
This web site is dedicated to the memories of Annis and George Bills. They showed so much love and care for animals when money was short in the years of the Great Depression. They financed drinking troughs in many regional towns throughout Australia to relieve the suffering of animals.
From my travels and with thanks to a network of interested people, I have collected photos from over 310 locations where Bills Horse troughs can be still found today. Open the location list in this web site for their locations.
These Bills Horse Troughs are monuments which remind us of years gone by when horses were the main way to travel.
All the troughs bear a inscribed terrazzo name plate on the fascia plate Donated by George and Annis Bills Australia. With the event of the motor vehicles the usefulness of the troughs waned. No troughs were made after 1940
Many of the troughs have had to be moved to make way for roadwork’s. Many were destroyed or dumped in the rubbish tips, but fortunately many were saved from this faith and have found they way into private ownership and with tender loving care are still preserved today, They are a very much sort after items for features in gardens
The photo above is of the Bills Horse Trough in Stanhope Victoria with the author George Gemmill and his poodle dog Hamish. Note the small drinking trough at the right hand side is for dogs to have a drink from. The average daily water requirement for a horse is about 50 litres a day.
Further reading about George and his brother Henry tells how they donated gifts to the RSPCA in many different ways. There is a full account in the book written by Barbara Pertzel, For All Creatures – A History of the RSPCA Victoria (First published in 2006).
I have received photos of Bills troughs from places as far away as London Ireland and Northcliffe in Western Australia.
The Webmaster of this site can be contacted at billshorsetroughs@hotmail.com I welcome your inquiries. George Gemmill
