any empty preserved food can. The earliest known use of billy for kettle is in an 1848 Tasmanian newspaper report of a criminal trial. A defendant is reported as saying "he put some bread on the table and the "billy" on the fire." Reminiscences by Heberley and Davenport place billy or billies at earlier events but these accounts were written much later. Another early example from 1849 shows that use of the term was possibly widespread in Australia. It occurs in idyllic description of a shepherd's life in South Australia: "near the wooden fire, is what is called the billy or tea-kettle". From 1851 the gold rushes spur British emigration to Australia with many gold diggers writing letters home describing the journey to Australia and life on the goldfields and many writers mentioning their use of a "billy". From these it is known: In 1853 soup and bouilli cans were converted to useful items on an emigrant ship. "Billy - (this is what you call a tin-can, which is used very often at home for milking cows in, but which the diggers have christened Billy) - and a useful Billy he is: in it we make our tea and coffee". By 1855 "tin billys" are no longer just repurposed bouilli tins but are being sold by a Melbourne Importer and by 1859 are being manufactured in Australia with "Billys, all sizes" being sold at the Kyneton Tin and Zinc Works. See also Kelly kettle Dixie, a large metal pot (12 gallon camp kettle) for cooking, brewing tea etc; used in military camps List of cooking vessels References External links Camping equipment Cooking vessels Australian cuisine Australian inventions Tea in Australia