Cannon ball Container [Horse Trough]
Production date
1856
Object detail
Accession number
1970.93.1
Production period
Description
Rectangular, cast iron bin. Open at top, lip around opening, 4 small holes in base and one in one side. Embossed design on side includes: A shield featuring three cannons, "B" "O", up arrow, "18 56" and a makers name: "C. ROBINSON / STOURBRIDGE". Currently painted red/blue, with green under that.
One of two horse troughs. Held ammunition during the Maori Wars, 1856 embossed.
One of two horse troughs. Held ammunition during the Maori Wars, 1856 embossed.
Marks
C. ROBINSON / STOURBRIDGE Maker's Mark
Front: A shield featuring three cannons, "B" "O", [up arrow], "18 56" Embossed
Front: A shield featuring three cannons, "B" "O", [up arrow], "18 56" Embossed
Media/Materials
Other name
Ammunition Container
Credit Line
1856. Cannon ball Container [Horse Trough], 1970.93.1. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
![Cannonball Container [Horse trough]; Circa 1856](https://collection.motat.nz/records/images/medium/32089/19c94b9408de0b8e4d29a1be7c7726eacf4cbb66.jpg)
Public comments
Our thanks for your comment and additional detail regarding this item. We will ensure our records are updated.
- MOTAT Curatorial Research posted 3 years ago.
The shield featuring three cannons is the emblem of the Board of Ordnance, hence the embossed "B" "O". The up arrow is known as a Broad Arrow and is a marking used by the British to identify Government and Military Stores from the 1400s. The Board of Ordnance was the British organisation with wide-ranging responsibilities including the supply of guns, ammunition, stores and equipment to the British forces. The Board of Ordnance first established permanent offices in Auckland and Wellington in 1842. Due to the Logistical failures of the Crimean War, the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855 and its functions placed under the supervision of the War Office while reformation of the British Army's administrative system took place. In 1857 the men and the services of the Board of Ordnance in New Zeland were absorbed into the newly created Military Store Department. The Military Store Department continued to support Imperial and Colonial Forces until 1870 whens its function in New Zeland were closed. The at consensus is that these cast-iron containers were for the safe carriage of Gunpowder filled cannon projectiles from the factory to the distribution points in the colonys, in New Zealand's case the Magazines at Albert Barrack. From the magazine, the ammunition would generally be removed from these transit cases and packed into more portable loads with the cast-iron containers rerolled in to use as water troughs for blacksmiths and animals.
- Rob McKie posted 3 years ago.