- Cobb and Co
-
For Cobb & Co. in New Zealand, see Cobb & Co. (New Zealand).
Cobb and Co 
A Cobb & Co coach
Type Private Genre Transport Founded 1853 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Founder(s) Freeman Cobb
John Murray Peck
James Scanlon
James A. LamberCobb and Co is the name of a transportation company in Australia. It was prominent in the late 19th century when it operated stagecoaches to many areas in the outback and at one point in several other countries, as well.
The name stands for "Cobb & company," although the full stop after "Co" is often omitted. Alfred Deakin, Australia's second Prime Minister, was once a manager of Cobb and Co.[1]
Initially trading as The American Telegraph Line of Coaches the company was established in 1853 by four Americans (Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and James A. Lamber),[2][3] but only rose to prominence when bought by James Rutherford and a consortium of nine other partners in 1861. Rutherford's partners included Alexander William Robertson, John Wagner, Walter Russell Hall, William Franklin Whitney and Walter Bradley. Rutherford re-organised and extended the Victorian services and although winning a monopoly on major mail contracts, he found the advancing railways fast making Cobb & Co's Victorian routes redundant.
Contents
Services
North Coast pioneers standing near Cobb & Co coach outside Landsborough Shire Council Chambers, which was then located on Landsborough Maleny RoadCoaches played an important part in Australia's transport and communication history. The first services began in 1854 between Melbourne and Bendigo.[4] In 1861 Rutherford proposed extending the business into New South Wales, but his partners opposed the plan. They reversed the decision following news of the Lambing Flat (Young) gold rush. Rutherford moved ten coaches from the Castlemaine Depot in Victoria to Bathurst in 1862, and re-established his headquarters there. He transported passengers from the railway station at Penrith, all the way to the new goldfields. In 1865 on recommendations by Rutherford the company again expanded, this time to Queensland.[3]
The first Cobb and Co service in Queensland was between Ipswich and Brisbane in 1865. The coach stage stops were at Goodna and at the Oxley hotel. This service ended when the railway link was completed in 1875.[3][5] In 1871 Frederick Shaw joined the firm and established a large office, coach building factory and stables at Petrie Bight.[3] The company continued to expand it services, reaching North Queensland in the 1880s.[4] During this period services were expanded into south west Queensland as well. These coach services allowed for an otherwise isolated number of communities to maintain regular contact with the rest of the world.[6]
An 1880s Concord model coach in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, in Canberra, known as the Nowland’s mail coach, was used to transport mail and passengers in northern New South Wales, Australia. [7] This coach is likely to have been made by the Cobb & Co coachworks either at their Charleville, Queensland or Bathurst, New South Wales, NSW factory. It was originally owned by the Nowland family and used on their network of mail and passenger services in the Liverpool Plains area in the 1880s.
This coach also has a rich connection to the silver screen, featuring in the 1920 silent film The Man from Kangaroo Australian films (1896–1919) and the 1957 production of Robbery Under Arms, Australian films (1896–1919) based on the Rolf Boldrewood novel of the same name.
The Man from Kangaroo was shot near the coach's original home around Gunnedah, and further south in Kangaroo Valley. The Man from Kangaroo is held in the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia collection. Robbery Under Arms was shot around Bourke in New South Wales and Wilpena Pound in South Australia.
In Robbery Under Arms the coach features in a hold-up scene. It is first glimpsed barrelling down an inland highway before being bailed up by the fictional bushranger Captain Starlight and his gang.
The Nowland's mail coach was acquired by the National Museum of Australia in 1980. It was purchased from the Royal Australian Historical Society with another coach, a wooden horse-drawn landau [8] known as the Ranken coach.
Demise and resurrection
Cobb & Co Coach Concepts bodied Mercedes Benz O500RF-3 13.5m coachCobb and Co's operations were eventually superseded by the development of the automobile and, in some areas, by railways. Not to mention the vast amount of debt that the company had taken on due to overexpansion into industries like wool.[9] The company went into receivership in 1911 after Rutherford's death. Their last horse-drawn coach service ran in 1924.[3]
Today the Dyson Group of Companies owns the Cobb and Co coach company, which Dyson acquired when it purchased the Nixon Group in 2000. The company name has been resurrected in recent years by various operators and horse drawn coaches still operate at various locations throughout Australia.[10]
Remembrances
Cobb & Co. Stables in Sale, Victoria (2008)- A Cobb & Co stagecoach was used during the stage musical The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular.[11]
- Cobb & Co operated its lines after nightfall and its coaches were known for their triangular arrangement of lamps which were set on either side of the coach and a large central light was placed on the roof. This triangle of lights was visible for many miles across open country and is remembered in Henry Lawson’s poem, 'The Lights of Cobb & Co.'[12]
- William Henry Ogilvie mentions Cobb & Co in his poem 'How the Fire Queen Crossed the Swamp'.[13]
- Whiplash was loosely based on the life of Freeman Cobb, founder of Australia's Cobb & Co. coach line and starred Peter Graves as Christopher Cobb.[14]
- Cobb Highway received its name in 1947 in commemoration of the Cobb & Co coach company.
- The Coach of Cobb and Co., Musical Song. Off the Album "Australia: Our Land, Our Music"
- A Cobb and Co stagecoach is used in the Australian Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast, Australia.
See also
References
- ^ Norris, R (1981). "Deakin, Alfred (1856 - 1919)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080275b.htm. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
- ^ "Coaching Days in Australia", Volume 2, "The Australian Junior Encyclopaedia", A.J.E. Publications (Vic.) Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1962
- ^ a b c d e Hacker, D. R. (1999). Petries Bight: a Slice of Brisbane History. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Queensland Women's Historical Association Inc. pp. 19—20. ISBN 0959027181.
- ^ a b Munns, Cec F.; A. McLay, J Sparkes, W. Logue, S. Paul and B. Short (1987). The way we were. Volume 3 (2 ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Brooks Waterlook Publicaters. pp. 240. ISBN 0855685077.
- ^ Goodna then and now -Ipswich City Council
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland) (2002). Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback. State of Queensland. pp. 11. ISBN 0-7345-1040-3.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Landau (carriage)
- ^ Everingham, S., 2007, "Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Cobb & Co."
- ^ Meanders COBB & Co Coach
- ^ publicity photo for "The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular", featuring the Cobb & Co coach which was used in the 2002 musical
- ^ The Lights of Cobb and Co. by Henry Lawson
- ^ How the Fire Queen Crossed the Swamp by William Ogilvie
- ^ Whiplash - Classic Australian Television
External links
Categories:- Companies established in 1853
- Transport in Australia
- Transport companies of Australia
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
