Mail on the Cobb

Things were certainly different back then in the Outback Oz of 'olden days'. We penned our communications using ink and paper, we travelled on horseback, buggy or coach, according to our means, and we swapped yarns, news and views only as frequently as our location, station and occupation would permit. 

The world was a bigger and a slower place and patience more a necessity than a virtue. 

But that was before the advent of the niftiest novation of nineteenth century news networks, the dashing distributer of Dandenong, the Flash Gordon of Gundagai, the integrated stagecoach service that was Cobb & Co. 

It was an American, Freeman Cobb, and his partners who, in 1853, were to form the first of a series of successful Australian stagecoach companies to carry passengers and mail, initially to the then booming goldfields, and then across the remote regional and outback areas of Oz.  The concept was begun in Victoria and then, after a change of ownership and a buy-out (or 'force-out') of many competitors, expanded into NSW and Queensland.

As these magnificent horse drawn contraptions carried cash and gold, they soon became a target for the infamous bushrangers of the Aussie outback, but that didn't stop the momentum of this home grown organisation with its 'colourful' drivers and managers.  And so the name Cobb & Co, "born out of the country's gold rushes", became virtually synonymous with the following:

"... the pioneering spirit, a willingness to battle against the odds, to reliably connect far-flung communities."
Sam Everingham (2007), "Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Cobb & Co," Penguin Books.

Road Rules for Passengers.
Adherence to these rules will ensure a memorable journey

• Coarse language will not be tolerated from gentlemen in the presence of ladies and children.
• The driver will be exempt from this rule as his horses may not understand the "Queen's English".
• Ladies must not show an unseemly ankle when climbing into or alighting from the coach.
• Passengers wishing to sleep during the trip must ensure it is done quietly as snoring etc inconveniences other passengers. A word of congratulations will be forthcoming at the end of the journey to any passenger who does manage to sleep.
• In the event of sighting a Yowie, Bunyip or other such beastie, remain calm - the alcohol will wear off soon.
• Keep conversation to a general nature. Bushrangers, accidents, politics and religion should be avoided completely.
• In the unlikely event of a hold-up, obey the bushranger's orders immediately.  Failure to do so could lead to your relatives entering into a period of mourning.
• When swatting flies or mosquitos, a clean kill is more humane.
• Should the coach become bogged, gentlemen are required to push. Those who do not may find they contribute to the speed of the ensuing journey by lightening the load.
• Do not speak to the driver while the coach is in motion as he likes to hear his own voice better than anyone else's.
• If riding on the top of the coach please remember to "duck your head" when approaching overhanging branches. Failure to do so could mean you may end up in the tree with the coach proceeding without you.
• When luncheon stops are made at hotels, it is advisable to "shout the driver", else he may not notice your absence when departing.
• Please keep your shoes on when travelling. Strange smells may offend other passengers or the horses.
• The driver will allow any passenger who complains of cramped conditions to "stretch their legs", providing that they can keep up with the speed of the coach.
• The pros and cons of driving techniques should not be discussed with the driver. There are only two ways to drive a coach - his way and the wrong way.
• Gentlemen guilty of unruly behaviour will be dislodged from the coach and left stranded in the middle of never-never. It is a l_o_n_g walk back to TOOWOOMBA.

Cobb & Co wish you a very pleasant journey.

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I took the following two photographs at the same Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba, showing an actual previously in-service coach with tack, harness, etc.  

The following image was downloaded from Cobb & Co on- line images. The original source was not quoted. 

The Cobb & Co drivers were renowned and respected, not only for their "colourful and entertaining personalities", but also for their equestrian skills. They reportedly only used four reins to control either a five or seven horse team, while riding "in broad daylight or pitch darkness; sun, snow or sleet; on well-maintained roads or no roads at all".

The numerous 'changing stations' (located about every 10 to 20 miles along the route) had grooms responsible for the horses as well as their 'made-to-measure' collar and leather harness. 

"The driver would sound a bugle 1 mile (1.6 km) out from the change station to alert the groom, who would have the fresh team brushed and harnessed by the time the coach rolled in."
Kathy Riley, "Cobb & Co coaches :historical transport", October 2011.

When the rivers along the various routes were swollen by rain, it was apparently not uncommon for the teams of horses to have to be swum across, accompanied by the men.  Ladies and luggage, and of course the priceless mail, were ferried across in 'wash tubs'.  Furthermore, the passengers would often have to get out and walk when the going was too 'boggy' and to even dig the coach out. Journeys between townships were certainly self contained expeditions back in those days and the short stops at horse team change stations bore absolutely no comparison with todays instant refuelling stopovers at motorway/freeway service centres.  

Spare a thought for the stagecoach travellers next time you have to wait for more than a few minutes for your flat white, burger and chips at McDonalds, on route to outer (or inner) Wop Wop in your comfortable, air conditioned, combustion engine driven, shock absorbing suspended, modern day people carrier.

Eventually, however, some 70 years after its formation, Cobb & Co was forced into liquidation, overrun by various changes in circumstances including the following:

• sky-rocketing price of horse feed; 
• diverse and rapid growth of the company with a subsequent series of disastrous investments; 
• competition from the railways and fierce competition form competitors for mail contracts; 
• the launch of Qantas, subsequently to become the national airline, with its first mail and passenger flight; and
• the appearance of the motor car. 

This unique outback mail service of yesteryear may have gone, but its spirit lives on in many preserved Cobb & Co stations and homesteads, hotels, estate agents and restaurants, and its name has been immortalised by Henry Lawsons' words in "The Lights of Cobb & Co":

"Not all the ships that sail away since Roaring Days are done, 

Not all the boats that steam from port, nor all the trains that run, 

Shall take such hopes and loyal hearts - for men shall never know,  

Such days as when the Royal Mail was run by Cobb & Co." 

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Cobb & Co undoubtedly played a major part in the opening up of the regional centres of Australia and of the outback, just like the camel before it and the Royal Flying Doctor Service after it, both highlighted in my previous posts at the following links:

Ttry-uber-camel-on-hump-day  

What-has-the-royal-flying-doctor-service-in-common-with-bebee  

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http://ken-boddie.squarespace.com

The author of the above, Ken Boddie, besides being a sometime poet and occasional writer, is an enthusiastic photographer, rarely leisure-travelling without his Canon, and loves to interact with other like-minded people with diverse interests.

Ken's three day work week (part time commitment) as a consulting engineer allows him to follow his photography interests, and to plan trips to an ever increasing list of countries and places of scenic beauty and cultural diversity.