Cobb & Co. Early Days
When gold was discovered in Victoria in the 1850s, thousands of people of all nationalities trekked inland to the 'diggings'. The settlements sprang up almost over night, and the people needed fast and reliable transport and communications.
Four young Americans - Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber established a stagecoach network similar to those in the United States. Their first Cobb & Co. coach ran on 30 January 1854 carrying passengers from Melbourne to the Forest Creek Diggings, now Castlemaine.
The coaches were imported from America, and 'Yankee' or 'Canuck' (American and Canadian) drivers were employed as drivers. Many had already gained experience driving coaches in the American West. Cobb & Co. halved the travelling times taken by smaller competitors. They had changing stations 25 to 40 kilometres apart where tired coach horses were replaced with fresh horses. The coaches averaged 10 to 12 kilometres per hour over even the longest stages.
The roads were just bush tracks, and the drivers had to cross flooded creeks and bogs, climb steep mountain ranges, and sometimes face bushrangers who wanted to rob the coach and passengers of money and gold. Yet Cobb & Co. coaches continued to carry passengers, mail and parcels for the next 70 years.
In its heyday, coaches bearing the name Cobb & Co. carried passengers and the mail in every mainland colony of Australia, as well as New Zealand, South Africa and Japan.
