Cobb & Co. (New Zealand)

Cobb and Co is the name of a company that operated a fleet of stagecoaches in Australia in the late 19th century. Cobb & Co themselves did not operate in New Zealand officially but their name was used by many private stage coach operators.

History

Cobb and Co coach at Palmertson Otago in the 1880's

In 1861, the discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully, Otago, prompted a gold rush and saw many Australian gold-diggers heading for the port of Dunedin. Among these was the Cobb & Co. coach proprietor Charles Cole, who had been running a service from Smythe's Creek to Ballarat, Victoria. He chartered the steamship S.S. India at Geelong and on 4 October 1861 landed in Dunedin with one 'Concord' coach, five wagons, a buggy and some fifty-four horses.

A vast improvement in comfort, the new American 'Concord' coaches were built by J. Abbott of Concord, New Hampshire. Each had a centre door with a glass window which could be raised or lowered; the openings either side had curtains of American leather which rolled up and down to keep out the weather. The interior was upholstered in crimson plush, while the outside was painted red, with gold ornamentation. A box seat and roof seat allowed the coach to carry five extra outside passengers, with six to nine seated around the inside.

One week after landing, his first "Cobb & Co Telegraph Line of Coaches" left the Provincial Hotel, Dunedin for the Police Commissioner's Camp at Gabriel's Gully. Changing stations for the horses had already been arranged at the Reliance Hotel, Otokia at Tokomairiro, Round Hill and Waitahuna.

In February 1862, the Hoyts came to New Zealand, landing their coach and horses at Bluff. They moved to Dunedin when they found there was no direct route to reach the gold diggings from there and linked up in partnership with C.Cole, trading as Cole, Hoyt & Co., proprietors of Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches.

The passenger coach service began to operate on a regular basis from Dunedin to Waikouaiti. Passengers who travelled on this line for Oamaru and beyond, were transferred to a light two horse wagon for the final part of their journey, where they were met by private contractors to take them to the Ferry Service at Waitaki.

By April 1862, Hoyt decided to put a four horse coach team on the run, with a service of three times a week at a fare of £3 each way. The route lay through Palmerston and over the Horse Range where stops were made at the Hampden Hotel and the Otepopo Inn, before the leg to the Northern Hotel, Oamaru or on to the Waitaki River Ferry Service.

By 1863 a reasonable roadway had been cut through from Timaru to Christchurch. A Cobb & Co coachline in Timaru soon opened up with a passenger service on this route running to the north. Within a short time the coachline advertised additional services south to the River Ferry at Waitaki so linking the route with the Dunedin/Oamaru coach-teams from the lower South Island.^[1]

The advent of motorised transport led to the inevitable decline in stage coach travel. The last Cobb & Co coach run was in 1924 at which point the company closed.^[2]

Resurrection of the Company name

The company name has been resurrected in recent years by Cobb & Co Coaches Ltd (New Zealand). Operating out of Mangere Bridge, near Auckland airport, the company provides airport shuttles, corporate cars and charter buses.

Cobb & Co. Restaurants

The "Cobb & Co." brand name originates from the Australian stagecoach company that operated a fleet of stagecoaches in the late 19th century. Many New Zealand stagecoach operators adopted the Cobb & Co. name, but otherwise traded separately from their Trans-Tasman counterpart. It was from these NZ operators that the brand was transposed onto the New Zealand Cobb & Co. Restaurant Chain.^[3]

In 1973 the first Cobb & Co restaurant opened. New Zealand Breweries (now known as Lion Nathan Breweries, or "Lion") jumped on the Cobb & Co. bandwagon and re-branded their chain of dated Tavern-Diners to stand alongside the stagecoach operators. They created a string of restaurants that shadowed the stagecoach network/supply line, spanning the length of the country. Each and every restaurant was fitted out with big red doors in the popular saloon style of the time, and so the iconic Cobb & Co. trademark doors were born. The Provincial in Dunedin was one such Tavern-Diner.

"Through it all the Provincial prospered. ‘When Jones took over the Provincial … business merely hummed. Jones soon had it throbbing’, James McNeish wrote. He turned it into the depot and booking office for the Cobb & Co. coaches running between Dunedin and Gabriel’s Gully. It was rough, boisterous and for Jones highly profitable. Clubs, societies and sporting bodies met here and on one memorable night two groups gathered, one to form a fire brigade, the other a jockey club.” ^[4]

Many of the Taverns along the gold mining routes were already owned by Lion Nathan Breweries, so simply because they were situated on the thoroughfares, Cobb & Co. incidentally became a family staple for Kiwi’s. One of the first such routes was between Dunedin and Gabriel’s Gully; the famous gully where the first Kiwi gold-miners first struck gold. In the height of the gold-rush era, the number of Cobb & Co.’s reached 36 restaurants nationwide. Spanning the country from Western Springs, Auckland; to the Avenal Homestead, Invercargill (where it still stands today).^[5]

"In 1861, the discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully, Otago, prompted a gold rush and saw many Australian gold-diggers heading for the port of Dunedin. Among these was the Cobb & Co. coach proprietor Charles Cole, who had been running a service from Smythe's Creek to Ballarat, Victoria. He chartered the steamship S.S. India at Geelong and on 4 October 1861 landed in Dunedin with one 'Concord' coach, five wagons, a buggy and some fifty-four horses.” ^[6]

The "Freeman's Bar” (named after Freeman Cobb (1830-1878); the original Cobb & Co. coach line proprietor^[7]), was usually found adjacent to the dining rooms / the main lobby’s of popular taverns.

References

https://www.cobbandco.com

External links

• Cobb & Co Restaurants, New Zealand
• Cobb and co Coaches , New Zealand