In 1864 John Furphy established a blacksmith and wheelwright business in Shepparton, Victoria, and by the 1880s he was running a large foundry business that still operates to this day. The most iconic Furphy product is the water cart, with a rolled sheet steel barrel and circular cast iron end plates, produced from the 1880’s through to the late 1900’s.  These water carts became famous for their unique and noticeable branding and inscriptions, and for their use by the Australian Imperial Force in WWI.

This Furphy water cart was made in 1905, and was purchased by a farmer, Maurice Carrol, of Borree Creek NSW who used it until 1930 to supply water to a portable steam engine that drove shearing equipment. It was donated by Gordon Ellis in 2001 and refurbished by the manufacturer with a grant from the Queensland Government.