Cobb & Co

Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, when it was carried by many stagecoaches carrying passengers and mail to various Australian goldfields, and later to regional and remote areas of the Australian outback. The same name was used in New Zealand and Freeman Cobb used it in South Africa.

Although the Queensland branch of the company made an effort to transition to automobiles in the early 20th century, high overhead costs and the growth of alternative transport options for mail, including rail and air, saw the final demise of Cobb & Co. The last Australian Cobb & Co stagecoach ran in Queensland in August 1924.

Cobb & Co has become an established part of Australian folklore commemorated in art, literature and on screen. Parallels may be drawn between Australia's Cobb & Co and America’s Wells Fargo stagecoach services, both of which played similar and important roles in their respective countries' histories. Today, the name 'Cobb & Co' is used by a number of Australian bus operators.

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. At first they traded as the "American Telegraph Line of Coaches", a name that emphasized speed and progressiveness. With financial support from another newly arrived US businessman George Train, they arranged the importation of several US-built wagons and Concord stagecoaches. By early 1854, Cobb & Co operated a daily service to Forest Creek and Bendigo and, soon afterwards, expanded the service to Geelong, as well as other goldfields such as Ballarat.

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. As historian Susan Priestley notes, "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 May 1856, the four partners sold out. Cobb and Lamber returned to the US while Swanton continued in coaching for a few more years. John Peck stayed in Melbourne, eventually establishing a stock and station agency. Passing through the hands of a number of owners, Cobb & Co rose to greater prominence after 1861 when it was bought by a consortium of partners led by another North American, James Rutherford, who like Cobb had arrived during the gold rush. 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 won a monopoly on major mail contracts. By 1870 most of Victoria was serviced by a network of coach routes.

In 1860, Cobb & Co introduced its massive "Leviathan" coach on the Geelong-Ballarat service. Built in Ballarat by Morgan's coach works, "Leviathan" could accommodate up to sixty passengers and was drawn by a team of eight horses. The interior was fitted with five benches, and included a ladies' compartment in the front. There were a further seven benches on the roof.