G'day again Allen,

Tinned meat was originally a Napoleonic initiative ("... an army marches on its stomach ... ? and all that). I think the first practical use of their bouef bouilli was in the 1820s. I would need to be at my home computer to track down an item I wrote on this - but I think the first meat canning in Australia was (~) 1849.

BTW: They didn't invent the can-opener for at least another decade ... they opened the tin(ned cannister)s with a hammer and a cold chisel for the first ten years, or so!

It's fairly well accepted (in some quarters...) that our "billy can" was started life as a bouilli can ... and I doubt that the term "tin can" became popular until well in the latter half of the 19th century. (I'll check the word histories in Morris's Dictionary of Austral English [mid 1890s ... ?] when I get home.)

Regards,

Bob