Cobb & Co

Cobb & Co Original Oil on Board 76cm x 61cm by D’Arcy Doyle

The original Cobb & Co was established in Melbourne in 1853 at the height of the excitement created by the Victorian goldrushes by four newly arrived Americans – Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and John B. Lamber.

Cobb & Co’s horses were changed at stages every 10–15 miles along a stagecoach “line” often at inns or hotels that could also cater for the needs of drivers and passengers. “Coach lines did not attempt to compete with… railways. Instead, as rail lines extended, coaches were transferred to feeder routes and were timetabled to link in with trains.  Within a few years, Cobb & Co had established a reputation for efficiency, speed and reliability, although they had not won any of the lucrative mail contracts. Their imported Concord stagecoaches used thorough-brace technology, on which thick straps of leather suspended the body of the vehicle, providing passengers with greater comfort on the rough country roads when compared to coaches with traditional steel-springs.

In June 1862, Rutherford oversaw the extension of the business into New South Wales following news of the Lambing Flat gold rush. Rutherford moved ten coaches from Bendigo to Bathurst with great publicity to announce and establish Cobb & Co’s presence. Bathurst became the headquarters of a new syndicate led by Rutherford and four others. Rutherford had intended to spend 6 months in Bathurst, but stayed on to the end of his days, becoming one of the city’s leading citizens. Rutherford established a Cobb & Co buggy and coachworks in Bathurst, and the firm also began to invest in properties — the first being “Buckiinguy” station near Nyngan, New South Wales. On the road, Cobb & Co began buying out or forcing out many New South Wales competitors.  Carrying cash and gold, coaches were famously a regular target of bushrangers. Everingham notes that Cobb & Co’s expansion into New South Wales coincided with an increase in the number of armed hold-ups by bushrangers. At least nine coaches were attacked in the Bathurst district in the seven months after the company established itself there.