Bush Poetry fans, like myself, might be familiar with Henry Lawson's 1897 poem "The Lights of Cobb & Co.", with an extract as follows - 'The trot, trot, trot and canter, as down the spur we go - The green sweeps to horizons blue that call for Cobb & Co - But on the bank to westward a broad triumphant glow - A hundred miles shall see tonight the lights of Cobb & Co.'
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The word "coach" derives from the Hungarian town of Kotze where coaches were first built.
Interesting that we still use the word "coach" for our motorised version, the latter being much quicker, with a regular 1877, 39 mile Tamworth to Nundle four-horse drawn coach run taking seven hours.
Each coach team was of four or five horses , a light cart-horse type, heavier than sulky horses.
Extra horses were kept at the changing places, generally 10 to 15 miles apart, in case of emergencies.
Candle lamps were held in sockets on each side of the coach.
The first coach trip in Australia was along Parramatta Road in 1821, but it wasn't until the 1840's that we saw coaches pass through Tamworth, with David Cohen's Maitland-based coach service linking Maitland and Armidale.
This service was taken over in 1848 by Irishman John Gill, who eventually had a virtual coach service monopoly from the Hunter River to the Queensland border.
His Tamworth headquarters were near the far end of Peel St, near Jewry St, pretty much the CBD of the time.
The Cobb & Co firm first established in Melbourne by American Freeman Cobb in 1853.
After he returned to America in 1856 his replacement James Rutherford extended the business into NSW in 1862 with his Cobb & Co buggy & coachworks having 10 coaches at Bathurst.
Their expansion into NSW co-incided with an increased number of bushranger holdups, with at least 9 coaches in the Bathurst district held up in the 7 months after the Company established there.
In Northern NSW Thunderbolt and others came to the fore.
Driver William Thom, on his way north to Tamworth, was left tied to a tree by a bushranging gang, but fortunately escaped from his predicament.
By 1865 the Company had extended into Queensland, and thence into South Australia in 1866.
The success of Cobb & Co over other competing coach-lines was largely due to the "thoroughbrace" coaches imported from the USA, which had thick leather straps suspending the body of the vehicle, rather than the traditional steel springs, thus providing the passengers with considerably more comfort on rough roads.
Cobb & Co had its first Tamworth connection by taking over Gill's Muswellbrook to Armidale run in 1871, and by 1876 were operating services from Tamworth to Murrurundi, Armidale and Inverell.
The initial arrival and departure point from Tamworth was the Commercial Hotel, located around the present 'Best & Less' store in Peel St, later moving their office next to "The Tamworth News" , part of Nathan Cohen's Exchange Building at today's 421-427 Peel St.
Their local agent was Thomas Ross, Mr Moses the Driver-in-Charge of the Northern area, with William Lee employed to care for the horses.
Some stables were leased in Brisbane St, just above today's Westpac corner, from Ms Dwyer, the daughter of Constable James Dwyer.
Horse feed was obtained from Richard Missen, with John Spain being one of the hay suppliers.
In August, 1876 the Tamworth to Murrurundi run departed at 4 am on Mondays and Saturdays; the Tamworth to Armidale run departed at 9am daily (except Saturdays); the Tamworth to Inverell run departed at 2 am on Sunday, Wednesday & Friday.
In September, 1877, under new agent Thomas Hughes, Tamworth-Murrurundi increased to three services - Mon/Wed/Fri, dep.8am - fare 1 pound, with Murrurundi-Tamworth being Tues/Thurs/Sat, dep. 8am.
To compete with a rival coach company by speeding up the Tamworth-Murrurundi journey, Cobb & Co increased the number of horse changes to get fresher horses.
An earlier 6am departure time from Tamworth enabled the coach to reach Murrurundi, then the termination of the railway, to board the 4:40pm train to Newcastle.
The coach time departing Murrurundi was also altered to allow train passengers to travel by coach to Tamworth.
By August, 1877 Charles Grace had erected a brick coaching factory for Cobb & Co at the northern corner of Marius and White Sts, on what was to be the corner of the new Tamworth Railway Station a little over four years later.
This included a large shed for housing the coaches, this land soon to be resumed by the Railway.
Cobb & Co also had a two-storey brick building at the corner of Bridge & Church St in West Tamworth, the ground floor stabling the horses and the top floor housing their food. This building was demolished by a new owner in 1885.
In 1879 Cobb & Co took over the Tamworth-Warialda run, employing the experienced George Wilkinson & Abraham Bowden, who had previously operated the run after Joseph Chaffey.
Cobb & Co's association with the Tamworth District ended in 1888, the same year as our electric street lighting commenced, when its former driver, the hugely experienced and highly regarded George Wilkinson, took over the Tamworth-Warialda run.
The arrival of train services in the North West gradually led to the demise of coach services, further accelerated by the arrival of motor transport three decades later.
The last Cobb & Co coach in NSW ran in 1913, with the last Australian horse-drawn coach service, run by Cobb & Co, concluding in Queensland in 1924.
How spoilt we are travelling these days - unless perhaps riding a bike!
A passenger description of a Winter trip on the Tamworth-Armidale coach-run included the following - "....the driver, closely muffled from head to toe and yet as though he had lost his fingers, scarcely able to handle the reins; and the half-frozen passengers crouching closely together for warmth ..... sometime in the ride from Tamworth to Armidale, the passengers are jammed inside the coach most uncomfortably - either crowding or crushing themselves, or incommoded by a quantity of luggage or goods - and it may be that passengers are left at one stage or another, the cold in the coach grows more intense, until one's rug becomes very much like a sheet of cold iron, and one's toes seem to have slipped away altogether."
Some early coach operators in various places charged a scaled range of fares.
The most expensive - a seat inside the coach; medium fare - a seat on top; cheapest fare - a seat on top, but exiting at the bottom of any steep hill, which they then had to walk up to lighten the load, before getting back on board. Don't complain about 'roadworks', etc today!
These local history articles appear in the Northern Daily Leader every Wednesday. Spread the word! Today's topic No. 60.
Mike Cashman - Tamworth Historical Society
