LIGHTS OF COBB & CO
“ .. .the last horse-drawn Cobb & Co. coach ran … in Queensland, in 1924 …”
As a young bloke, I once saw offered for sale an old Cobb & Co. coach. The asking price was sixty dollars.
This occurred at Echuca, on the Victorian side of the Murray River.
With my horse in harness, I did an experimental walk-trot along a dusty track near the stockyards.
The old coach had a strange motion, a sort of swaying effect, that made me feel uneasy, and so I declined the offer and missed out on owning a valuable historical artifact.
Australia’s first “stage coach” transport system had its initial run in Victoria, in 1854, between the goldfield diggings of Ballarat and Castlemaine.
The last horse-drawn Cobb & Co. coach ran between Yuleba and Surat, in Queensland, in 1924.
The young man who founded the original Cobb & Co. coaching system in Australia was a 23-year-old American, Freeman Cobb, son of a sea captain, who arrived in Australia in 1853 to look into the feasibility of establishing a local branch of the Adams Express Company.
News of the lucrative gold strikes in Australia seemed to require a reliable transport system. Oddly, the venture lapsed.
Freeman Cobb, however, disagreed with the company’s decision and decided to strike out as an independent entrepreneur.
In the luxurious Criterion Hotel, in Melbourne, Cobb engaged the interest of three other young Americans – John Lamber, James Swanton and John Peck – and the trio ultimately launched their own transport enterprise.
The enterprising Americans imported coaches from a USA company, Abbott-Downing Coaches, of New Hampshire – all painted red, with yellow wheels, ornamented with gold scrolling, and the seats were generously upholstered.
Originally, their venture was called “The American Telegraph Line of Coaches” (rather a mouthful), but came to be known as “Cobb & Co.”
Their first coach left Melbourne on January 30, 1854, for the Ballarat – “Forest Creek” (later re-named Castlemaine) goldfields, carrying passengers, luggage, mining tools and produce.
In a sort space of time, due to their speed and reliability, Cobb & Co. won mail contracts and gold escort work.
Within the short space of two years, due to their speed and reliability, Cobb and Co. was sold for “a huge profit” (the equivalent of $32,000).
Cobb returned to his homeland to become a Massachusetts senator, later moving to South Africa to initiate a coaching system to serve the Kimberley diamond mines.
Freeman Cobb ultimately died there, aged only 48 years.
In Australia the Cobb & Co. transport company came into the hands of another enterprising American, James Rutherford, a former school teacher.
In the 1860s Rutherford sailed on the “Akbar” for Melbourne where, after dabbling in timber cutting, gold fossicking and horse dealing, he established a partnership who purchased Cobb & Co.
Very quickly, he expanded his routes out to the new goldfields in New South Wales and beyond the Blue Mountains to virgin farming country.
Ultimately, under Rutherford’s direction, the company traversed the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland; this involved the use of 30,000 horses that covered 45,000 km every week, at first using American-built coaches, then later others constructed at Bathurst, Bourke, Goulburn and Hay, making it the largest coaching system in the world.
Most of the horses used were carefully selected crosses between the draught horse and a lighter saddle hack; they were stable-housed, well fed, and only had to cover distances where they could comfortably maintain 16 mph before being swapped over.
Some of the old-time drivers were characters. Such as old Mick Dougherty.
Old Mich used to tell naive passengers that he had trained a wild kangaroo to collect a mailbag from the coach, to sort out the letters, then to deliver them in his pouch to the scattered addresses around the countryside.
Inevitably, the coach would round a corner along the track to find a kangaroo standing upright, watching their approach.
At once, Mick would shout: “Nothing today, mate,” and the roo would scamper off, leaving the passengers aghast.
In 1925 all the living Cobb & Co. coach drivers were special guests at a gathering to pay tribute to their contributions to Australia’s transport industry, saying: “Our highways have followed the wheel tracks of the coaches, guided by you through days and nights in fine weather and through storms.
“You faced the vicissitudes of the roads with fortitude and in the same spirit with which the pioneers set to work to settle this new continent.
“A younger generation should not fail to realise what Australia owes to the men of Cobb & Co.”
-J. Wells.
My great grandfather Thomas Bradley drove for Cobb & Co out of Bourke NSW around 1880 his daughter was born there in 1882. Is there any record of him or how could I find them?
Kindest regards,
Steve
— Steve Craig · 1 August 2009 · #
Try the main NSW archive (is it the Mitchell Library?) in Sydney. It’s possible they retain the relevant records.
— The Boss · 5 August 2009 · #
mick dougherty was my great grandfather,we have no info on him at all,could we find records of him. regards brian
— brian cracknell · 17 September 2009 · #
mick dougherty was my great grandfatherON MY MOTHERS SIDE she being born at greta.
— brian cracknell · 25 September 2009 · #
I believe a relative of mine drove the last coach to Surat in Qld. He has been referred to as uncle Ernie. How can I research this?
— Ron Sullivan · 22 November 2009 · #
Message to Brian. Mick Dougherty was my great grandfather (on my mother’s side) as well. I might be able to send you some information. You can contact me at bluebird.56@optusnet.com.au
— Peter · 11 May 2010 · #
my great great grandfather richard george was supposed to have been the fastest driver from i think s.a. or vict to w.a. and always won the races so the story goes he was called “flash dick” where would i find some info on him thankyou
— vicki forgiarini · 1 June 2010 · #
peter,tried to email you cannot get through, have you changed your server,my mum was melva dougherty born at wangaratta,my phone o359861145.Regards brian
— brian cracknell · 17 July 2010 · #
peter,is your e mail correct,i tried to contact you to now avail.could you phone me 035861145 regards brian.
— brian cracknell · 19 July 2010 · #
peter,your server would not accept my email,could you leave a contact,regards brian
— brian · 20 July 2010 · #