About us

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As one of Australia’s oldest companies, Furphy Foundry is proud of its heritage and a strong dedication to producing excellent products is paramount.

Furphy Foundry’s commitment to manufacturing such high-quality products was first summarised in 1910 when company founder, John Furphy inscribed the following words on the cast ends of a Furphy Water Cart:

"GOOD, BETTER, BEST - NEVER LET IT REST - TILL YOUR GOOD IS BETTER - AND YOUR BETTER, BEST."

Today, Furphy Foundry is a diversified foundry and manufacturing company – specialising in Urban Design Products such as Seats, Benches, Picnic Settings, Litter Receptacles, Barbecues, Drinking Fountains, Bike Racks, Bollards, Impact Security, Shelters, Tree Furniture, Urban Art and more.

Furphy History

The name Furphy is synonymous with Australian manufacturing. With it’s origins in 1864, today the Furphy tradition is carried on by J. Furphy & Sons and Furphy Foundry, each business owned and managed by 5th generation descendants of the company founder John Furphy. The Furphy name has rich links to rural Australia via it’s products from late 1800’s onwards and also to Australian history via the use of Furphy Water Carts in WW1 and their role as a gathering place.

Furphy Beer

Little Creatures Brewing (owned by Lion Beer Spirits and Wine Australia) built their breweries in Fremantle and Geelong using stainless steel tanks and fermenters supplied by Furphy Engineering.  When they completed the Geelong brewery they were keen to make a beer with a local connection to Victoria and approached us about adding a new beer to their repertoire – “Furphy Refreshing Ale”. After approaching us with the idea we discussed the concept in detail with them and we are pleased to be partners in bringing this beer to life and, in turn, bringing the story of Furphy to a wider audience.

Furphy Literary Award

Congratulations to novelist and poet, Kathryn Lomer, for winning the 2024 Furphy Literary Award with her story ’Nothing About Kissing’. There were more than 640 entries in this year’s Awards and Kathryn received $15,000 and publication in The Furphy Anthology 2024 later this year.

Everyone can write at least one good story. That was the belief of J. F. Archibald, the editor and founder of the famous nineteenth-century weekly, The Bulletin, who invited his readers to become contributors. It was this encouragement that led Joseph Furphy, working in his brother’s foundry at Shepparton, to write his ‘offensively Australian’ novel, Such is Life, using the pseudonym of ‘Tom Collins’. The book, full of stories derived from Joseph’s experience in the Riverina and told in a voice uniquely his own, is now acknowledged to be a classic of Australian literature.

In the spirit of Archibald and honouring the author of Such is Life, the Furphy Literary Award has been established to promote and extend the tradition of story telling, both factual and fictional, that is so much part of Australian life. The Furphy Literary Award, established locally by Shepparton’s Furphy family in 1992 to commemorate the writing of Such is Life author Joseph Furphy is Australia’s richest short story competition with a $20,000 prize pool.

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