Cobb & Co. coaches operating in NZ since 11 Oct 1861
A DigitalNZ Story by Zokoroa
NZ's first Cobb and Co. coach began operating from Dunedin to the Otago goldfields on 11 October 1861
Cobb & Co, Stagecoach, Coaches, Horses, Transport, Passengers, Otago, Christchurch, Dunedin, Tuapeka, Gabriel's Gully, Otago, Goldfields, Charles Cole
Following the discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully in Otago during 1861, the first Cobb & Co. coach began operating in New Zealand on 11 October 1861. Proprietor was American Charles Carlos Cole who had been operating a Cobb & Co. coach service to Ballarat for the Victorian goldfields since 1853. He had adopted the name 'Cobb & Co.', as did other private operators, after Cobb Freeman began his 'Cobb & Co.' service in Melbourne in 1854. Cole chartered the SS India to ship a stagecoach, wagons, carts, a buggy, 54 horses and saddles from Geelong, Australia. After arriving in Dunedin on 28 September 1861, Cole made arrangements to begin his coach service between Dunedin and Tuapeka at Gabriel's Gully which made its first trip on 11 October 1861.
Four months later, Cole formed a partnership in February 1862 with brothers Charles and Henry Hoyt who'd also operated a coach service in Victoria. They traded as Cole, Hoyt & Co., proprietors of 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches' and gradually expanded their operation to Christchurch and Canterbury. Other private operators began services on other routes in NZ and also adopted the name 'Cobb & Co'. With increasing competition from the railway, motorised vehicles and airmail services, the need for horse-drawn coaches lessened, and Cobb & Co. coach services had dwindled by the 1920s.
NZ's first Cobb & Co. stagecoach began operating from Dunedin to Tuapeka at Gabriel's Gully on 11 Oct 1861
Proprietor was American Charles Carlos Cole who'd operated coaches to Ballarat for the Victorian goldfields since 1853
Alexander Turnbull Library
Cole had adopted the name 'Cobb & Co.' from Freeman Cobb's company 'Cobb & Co.' which was set up in Melbourne in 1854
Other operators in Australia had also used the name 'Cobb & Co' hoping to gain from its public image of reliability
Trove
Cole had brought a Concord coach on the 'SS India' from Geelong which arrived in Dunedin on 28 Sept 1861
Also on board the chartered ship were wagons, carts, a buggy, 54 horses & saddles
National Library of New Zealand
Concord coaches were first built by Abbot-Downing Co. in Concord, New Hampshire from 1827 & imported into Australia
Coach rested on leather straps rather than metal springs. Reproductions were built by firms in Australia & later in NZ.
Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
In Feb 1962, Cole formed Cole, Hoyt & Co. with brothers Charles & Henry Hoyt who'd operated a coach service in Victoria
Trading as 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches', they carried passengers, mail, money for banks, & gold shipments
Kete Horowhenua
Cole, Hoyt & Co. continued the Tuapeka service, & added routes to Waikouati, Palmerston & Waitaki River Ferry, & Dunstan
Later, they expanded their Cobb & Co. services to include Christchurch & other parts of Canterbury
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Other operators also adopted the name 'Cobb & Co.' & started up services in other parts of NZ
Cole & the Hoyts left NZ to start Cobb & Co in Japan, 1868-71. Then Cole & Freeman Cobb operated in S. Africa, 1871-74.
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Coach drivers were known as ‘whips'. Legendary 'whips' included Hugh Craig, Ned Devine, Hugh Cassidy & James Strachan
(Obituary in Tuapeka Times, 1907, describes Hugh Craig's experience as a driver since he was a teen in the 1860s)
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Roads were often rough & narrow, & covered in frost & snow during winter
(Photo: At the entrance to a short tunnel through Buller Gorge, No date)
Nelson Provincial Museum
Coaches were driven across rivers without bridges, which led to mishaps for horses, passengers & driver
(Photo: Crossing the Waimakariri River in flood, 1875)
Alexander Turnbull Library
Accidents involving Cobb & Co. coaches were reported in newspapers
National Library of New Zealand
With increasing competition from railways, motor vehicles & airmail, Cobb & Co. coach services dwindled from the 1920s
Motor vehicles included passenger cars, mail cars & mail lorries, & long-distance buses (also called coaches)
Alexander Turnbull Library
Backstory:
1. Cobb & Co. origins in Australia, 1853
The first Cobb & Co was formed in Melbourne by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. They had established the 'American Telegraph Line of Coaches' in 1863 which began operating in January 1854, and was later renamed Cobb & Co.
Find out more: Wikipedia: Cobb & Co, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co
In 1853, two rival US coach firms attempted unsuccessfully to establish branches to service the Victoria gold diggings
Adams & Co. had sent Freeman Cobb & George Mowton to Melbourne in May 1853, & Wells Fargo & Co staff had arrived in June
Victoria and Albert Museum
Later in 1853, Freeman Cobb established his own 'American Telegraph Line of Coaches', later renamed 'Cobb & Co.'
He'd partnered with Americans John Peck, James Swanton & John Lamber. Daily runs from Melbourne began in Jan 1854.
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Cobb & Co. was sold in May 1856; then bought by a consortium led by American James Rutherford in 1861
The consortium expanded to NSW in June 1862 & to Queensland in 1865; then the partnership dissolved in 1871
Howick Historical Village
'Cobb & Co.' name was adopted by others including Charles Cole who'd begun Smythe's Creek to Ballarat service in 1853
Charles & his brother Leander (Lee) Goss Cole had moved from Vermont (US) to Victoria to start coach services
Auckland Libraries
2. Expansion to NZ, Sept/Oct 1861
Following the discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully, Charles Cole decided to set up a Cobb & Co. service in Dunedin. In 1861, he chartered the steamship SS India from Geelong and arrived in Dunedin. Some sources, including Wikipedia, state the arrival date was 4 October 1861, whereas 28 September 1861 is listed under Shipping News in the Otago Witness (5 October 1861, p.5)
Sep. 28 - India, 202 tons, Lucas, from Geelong with 2 cases saddlery, 6 wagons, 9 carts, 2 spring carts, 1 coach, 1 buggy, 2 wool presses, 1635 palings, 408 stakes, 54 horses, 4 passengers.
Thirteen days later on 11 October, Cole's stagecoach departed on his 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches' service from the Provincial Hotel, Dunedin to the Police Commissioner's Camp at Gabriel's Gully in Tuapeka. The length of the journey, which usually took two days, was reduced to a one-day trip by the introduction of stables and relays of horses. Changing stations for the horses were set up at the Reliance Hotel at Otokia, Tokomairiro (Milton), Round Hill, and Waitahuna.
On 11 Oct 1861, Charles Cole began his 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches' from Dunedin to Gabriel's Gully in Tuapeka
The stage coach left the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin & arrived at the Police Commissioner's Camp at Gabriel's Gully
Canterbury Museum
Adverts began appearing for Cobb & Co. service between the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin & United States Hotel in Tuapeka
Tuapeka lies by the Tuapeka River near where the gold was found in Gabriel's Gully
National Library of New Zealand
Coaches departed at 5.30am daily (except on Sunday) from Dunedin & from Tuapeka (arriving back in Dunedin at 6pm)
Changing stations for horses were set up at Reliance Hotel at Otokia, Tokomairiro (Milton), Round Hill, & Waitahuna.
Alexander Turnbull Library
American Concord coaches were built by Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hamphsire.
Like other fully equipped stagecoaches each had a centre door with a glass window which could be raised or lowered and 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 on benches inside.
Source: Wikipedia, Cobb & Co. (New Zealand)
Concord coaches were bright red with gold ornamentation & crimson plush seats
(Postcard of a Cobb & Co. Coach & a D3-688 Locomotive at Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement in Victoria, No date)
Canterbury Museum
3. Partnership with Hoyt brothers: Cole, Hoyt & Co., Feb 1862
In February 1862, Cole formed a partnership with brothers Charles and Henry Hoyt who had arrived in NZ with their Concord coach and horses they had been operating in Victoria. Trading as Cole, Hoyt & Co., proprietors of 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches', they continued to operate between Dunedin and Tuapeka. Their coach service soon developed to also carry mail, money for the banks and shipments of gold.
On "gold escort" days the scene was a gay one as the Tupeka coach drove in with two mounted troopers galloping in front and two following behind while another sat in the coach with the banker in charge of the gold, all being armed to the teeth.
Source: Noel Lincoln (June 2003), "Early mail coach services", Campbell Paterson Newsletter, (Vol.54, No. 11, p. 5)
In 1862, Cole formed partnership with brothers Charles & Henry Hoyt: 'Cobb & Co. Telegraph Line of Coaches'
Trading as Cole, Hoyt & Co., they carried passengers, mail, money for banks & gold shipments between Dunedin & Tuapeka
Christchurch City Libraries
Cobb & Co. service from Dunedin to to Waitaki River Ferry, April 1862:
Cole, Hoyt & Co. also introduced a coach service from Dunedin to the Waitaki River Ferry in April 1862
Initially, the route was from Dunedin to Waikouaiti which was then extended through Palmerston to the Waitaki River
Waitaki District Council
Cobb & Co. service from Dunedin to Dunstan goldfields, Nov 1862:
The Dunstan gold rush had begun in August 1862 when two Americans, Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly, discovered gold on the banks of the Molyneux (Clutha) River, just up-river from the present township of Clyde. Cobb, Hoyt & Co. began providing a service from Dunedin to Dunstan in November 1862:
The first Cobb & Co. coach left the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin’s Stafford Street, for the Dunstan, in November 1862 – a journey of three days each way. The time was soon reduced to one day’s travelling (from 4 am until midnight) by the establishment of stables and relays of horses. As high winds often threatened to capsize the vehicles, the tops of the coaches were removed and passengers were quite pleased to get out and walk for warmth as well as to make it easier for the horses. There was usually an overnight stop at Styx. The “jail” was in fact a lock-up where the gold bullion was protected. The chains which were used to padlock the gold chest in safety are still in place... The route was abandoned for coaches in 1864 when they changed to the more sheltered way through the Pigroot...
Source: Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust, Dunstan trail, URL: https://goldfieldstrust.org.nz/2009/04/dunstan-trail/
The Dunstan Goldrush had begun in 1862 & Cole, Hoyt & Co. began providing coach service from Dunedin to Dunstan in Nov
As well as passengers, the coaches carried mail, money for banks & gold shipments
Alexander Turnbull Library
The journey to Dunstan took three days each way & was reduced to one day (4am-midnight)
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Cobb & Co. services to Canterbury in 1863:
In 1863, Charles Cole and Henry Hoyt decided to expand their services to Canterbury. Charles' brother Leander (Lee) Goss Cole received a half-share in the new route and the firm was known as L. G. Cole & Co., Telegraph Line of Coaches, Canterbury. (Source: Canterbury Museum, Macdonald Dictionary Record: Leander Goss Cole)
Christchurch to Kaiapoi service began 1863 & Cobb & Co. office opened in 1864 on cnr Cashel & High Sts
(Image, 1872)
Lost Christchurch
Coles' brother Leander (Lee) Goss Cole received a half-share in the new route in Canterbury
The firm was known as L. G. Cole & Co., Telegraph Line of Coaches, Canterbury
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Light Concord coaches built with curtains instead of walls either side of the door were mainly used by Cobb & Co.
These lighter coaches began to be built in NZ. The leather curtains could be rolled up or let down according to weather.
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
4. Cobb & Co. routes expanded with private operators, 1863 - 1887
As roads were surveyed and constructed, coach services began to expand to other routes in the North and South Island. The following routes listed by Peeling Back History: Cobb & Co. began operating during 1863 to 1887. The coach services were provided either by Cole, Hoyt & Co. who operated in New Zealand until 1868, or by other private operators who began using Concord coaches, with some also adopting the name "Cobb & Co."
- 1863 – Timaru to Christchurch (First passenger was William Sefton Moorhouse who was Canterbury’s Superintendent)
- 1864 – Balcutha to Invercargill
- 1866 – Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika (New road had opened & coaches were run twice weekly, including first mail coach in March)
- 1867 – Wanganui to Upokongaro
- 1867 – Wanganui to Turakina
- 1869 – Wanganui to Wellington (A twice- weekly mail service commenced by Cobb & Co.)
- 1870 – Auckland to Hamilton (A coach trip from Auckland to Hamilton cost 35 shillings)
- 1873 – Napier to Taupo to Rotorua to Tauranga
- 1875 – Whangaehu to Turakina to Marton to Bulls
- 1878 – Christchurch City to Riccarton
- 1881 – Blenheim to Clarence
- 1886 – Mt Cook to Cromwell to Queenstown
- 1887 – Kaikoura to Waiau
Cole and the Hoyt brothers left New Zealand to start Cobb & Co. in Japan in 1868, where they ran coaches for three years. Cole also formed Cobb & Co. Ltd in South Africa with Freeman Cobb who had settled there in 1871. (Cobb had returned to Massachusetts from Australia in 1856, leaving his consortium partners to continue operating 'Cobb & Co.' in Australia.) Cole and Cobb operated a coach service between Port Elizabeth and the New Rush diamond fields at Kimberley until the firm was liquidated in 1874.
Cobb & Co. ticket costing 12/6 for travel from Wellington to Masterton on 11 March 1866
W. R. Hastwell is named as the proprietor
Wairarapa Archive
White Horse Hotel was commissioned in 1864 by John Nixon Beck as a Cobb & Co. stagecoach stop
White Horse Hotel, Becks c1864
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Photo of the Cobb & Co. Stagecoach Concord which was drawn by 4 horses, 1866
Framed Photo - Cobb & Co Stagecoach Concord 1866
Pahiatua Museum
Replica of the first coach which travelled from Auckland into the Waikato in 1866 & was designed for crossing rivers
Picture, Cobb & Co Coach
Thames Museum
Pen, ink & paint drawing of Cobb & Co.'s coach between Auckland & Mercer, 1860s
Cobb and Co's coach between Auckland and Mercer N. Z - 1865
Auckland Libraries
1870 advert for Auckland to Waikato timetable. Cost to Cambridge was 40 shillings.
Cobb & Co advertisement
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Arrival of first Cobb & Co. coach from Whanganui outside White Hart Hotel, New Plymouth, 12 Jan 1871
Arrival of first Cobb & Co. coach from Whanganui outside White Hart Hotel, New Plymouth.
Puke Ariki
Crossing Molyneaux (Clutha River) on the punt at Beaumont, 1870s
Cobb & Co's coach crossing Molyneaux on punt at Beaumont
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Cobb & Co. coach outside the Empire (later Grand) Hotel in Dunedin with driver Harry Yeend, 1874
Harry Yeend's coach outside Empire (later Grand) Hotel
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Midday halt for a Cobb & Co. coach in the Pelorus Valley which lies 20 km south of Havelock, c.1878-1894
Mid-day halt for a Cobb & Co coach, in the Pelorus Valley
Alexander Turnbull Library
Outside C. Field's Butchers Gully Hotel and general store at Manuherikia, c.1880s
Butchers Gully Hotel and general store at Manuherikia
Alexander Turnbull Library
At the summit of Hope Saddle on route from Westport to Nelson during the 1880s
Tyree Brothers (Firm) :Photograph of a Cobb & Co coach on the summit of Hope Saddle
Alexander Turnbull Library
Outside F. Thomas' Pelorus Hotel, Canvastown, c.1890s
Newman's Cobb & Co horse drawn coach, pulled up outside Pelorus Hotel, Canvastown
Alexander Turnbull Library
Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington, c.1890s
Cobb & Co coaches, Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington
Alexander Turnbull Library
Outside Cobb & Co. Stables at Lawrence, 1894
Cobb & Co Coaches Lawrence
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
A coach with 'Nelson & Reefton' written along the roof stands outside the Longford Accommodation House (no date)
Accommodation House, Longford.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Outside the Colonial Bank of New Zealand on corner of Trafalgar & Hardy Streets, Nelson (no date)
Haase's Cobb & Co Coach
Nelson Provincial Museum
Nelson - Reefton coach outside Junker's Hotel at Reefton (no date)
Junker's Hotel, Reefton
Nelson Provincial Museum
Outside the Beaumont Hotel near Lawrence (no date)
COBB & Co Coach outside Beaumont Hotel
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Half Way House, Whangamoa where a cup of tea is being drunk by the coach driver (no date)
"The Cup of Tea" at Half Way House, Wangamoa.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Outside W. G. Morgan's Hotel at Inangahua Junction (no date)
Inangahua Junction Hotel
Nelson Provincial Museum
View of a woman & 4 men seated on a Cobb & Co. coach drawn by a 4 horse team outside Corless' Hotel, Motupiko (no date)
Corless' Hotel, Motupiko.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Passing under a rocky outcrop above the Buller River (no date)
Hawkes Craig Buller River
Nelson Provincial Museum
View of passengers & luggage on board a Cobb & Co. horse-drawn coach by a hut in the bush (no date)
Unnamed
Nelson Provincial Museum
View of a Newman Bros Cobb & Co. coach drawn by a four horse team on a country road to Nelson (no date)
"Luggage for Nelson"
Nelson Provincial Museum
Ned Devine, a Cobb & Co. driver in Australia & NZ (from Nov 1863) was known as "Cabbage Tree Ned" (Article: 1904)
THE OLD COACHING DAYS. (Wairarapa Daily Times, 05 January 1904)
National Library of New Zealand
Outside the Little River Railway Station, 1908
Little River Railway Station
Christchurch City Libraries
Ferry (punt) on Buller River at Westport (no date)
Ferry near Westport Buller River
Nelson Provincial Museum
On board a ferry (punt) on the Buller River, c.1910
Cobb and Co coach on board a punt on the Buller River
Alexander Turnbull Library
Coaches alongside the Midland Railway Line, between Staircase and Broken River, c.1910
Coaches alongside the midland railway line, between Staircase and Broken River
Alexander Turnbull Library
‘Cobb & Co.’ advert to connect passengers to Cass Express Train which operated to Westport from 1910-1914
The mail coach
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Coaches crossing the Waimakariri River en route from Otira to Cass (Sept 1911)
On The Route Of The South Island Midland Railway
Auckland Libraries
Crossing Blackwater River on the West Coast (no date)
Crossing Blackwater River at Sunset.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Coach accident occurred on the West Coast-Canterbury Road at Paddy’s Bend near Cass, 1912
A Serious Coach Accident On The West Coast-Canterbury Road
Auckland Libraries
The coach had fallen thirty feet at Paddy's Bend, injuring several people
Smashed To Pieces
Auckland Libraries
Departing for the West Coast on their honeymoon, c.1920
My parents departing for the West Coast on their honeymoon on a Cobb & Co coach
Christchurch City Libraries
Cobb & Co.'s Stables, Featherston, 11 Jan 1924
Cobb and Co's Stables, Featherston
Wellington City Council Archives
On the road between Canterbury & Westland at the old Glacier Hotel, Bealey, where horses were changed, 1926
Travel in pre-railway days : Cobb and Co's coach on the road between Canterbury and Westland, at the old Glacier Hotel, Bealey, where horses were c...
Christchurch City Libraries
A Cobb & Co. stagecoach being driven for a picnic party at Upper Riccarton, 21 March 1929
An old mode of travel perpetuated: coaching to a picnic
Auckland Libraries
Timetable of the Telegraph Line of Royal Mail Line coaches with proprietors A. Hall & Co. published 3 Nov 1936
A Cobb and Co poster advertising their Telegraph Line of Royal Mail Line Coaches
Alexander Turnbull Library
5. End of Cobb & Co. coach service
With competition from the expansion of the railway, motorised vehicles for transporting passengers and mail, long-distance buses, and airmail, the need for horse-drawn coaches began lessening on routes by the 1920s.
With competition from expansion of railway, motor vehicles & airmail, the need for horse-drawn coaches lessened in areas
(The last advertised Cobb & Co. coach runs from Arrowtown-Queenstown & Arrowtown-Dunedin were in Feb 1925)
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Cobb & Co.'s coach at Roxburgh, 1901
The last Central Otago (Q'town - Lawrence) Gold Escort 1901. Cobb & Co coach
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Railways initially built by provincial govts from 1863 until provinces abolished in 1876, & by private firms from 1880s
Govt nationalised the railway, & opened line from Christchurch-Dunedin-Invercargill (1878) & Wellington-Auckland (1908)
Christchurch City Libraries
Service cars to carry passengers began to be used in the early 1900s
Early 'touring cars' were imported from US & lengthened to carry more passengers. Canvas hood could be folded down.
Auckland Libraries
Mail motor-cars & motorised lorries began to replace horse-drawn carriages in the early 1900s
(Image: Mail motor-car passing what was formerly the mail coach at Makuri, near Pahiatua, 1920)
Auckland Libraries
Long-distance buses (also called coaches) increased from the 1920s with improved roading
Under Transport Licensing Act 1931, bus companies had to be licensed, & buses, timetables & fares approved by the Govt
Auckland Libraries
First regular airmail service began when Canterbury Aviation Co flew from Christchurch-Ashburton-Timaru on 21 Jan 1921
In 1935, airmail was delivered to remote South Island districts, & mail planes connected all the main centres by 1936
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
6. Cobb & Co. restaurants, 1973 -
In 1973, first Cobb & Co. restaurant opened in Auckland at South Pacific Hotel by New Zealand Breweries (now Lion)
Customs Street, Auckland Central
Auckland Libraries
The Cobb & Co. restaurant theme was a tribute to the Cobb & Co. coaching days & encouraged family dining
Cobb & Co. Family Restaurant; Totara Lodge, opposite Trentham Railway Station.
Upper Hutt City Library
Interior of the Cobb & Co. restaurant at Auckland with wine-red carpet, dark wood & equestrian equipment, c.1974
Cobb & Co restaurant, Auckland, around 1974
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
There were 27 Cobb & Co. restaurants in NZ by 1980 & peaked at 37 in 1991 (Image: Interior at Queenstown, Jan 1980)
Food and Drink
Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
A horse & coach re-enactment was held when Cobb & Co. opened in the former Empire Hotel in Palmerston North, 1981
Cobb and Co. resturant-bar opening
Palmerston North City Library
Cobb & Co. chain was purchased in 2012 by Sue & Ben Gower of the Tauranga branch. In 2023, 8 branches were operating.
Cobb & Co on The Strand
Tauranga City Libraries
7. Memorabilia
Rear view Cobb & Co. stagecoach in an 1891 sketchbook drawn by Petrus van der Velden
Rear view Cobb and Co stagecoach. An 1891 sketchbook
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
At Wains Hotel and Livery Stables at Cockle Bay during a film scene for "Birth of New Zealand", 1922
Birth of New Zealand, film
Howick Historical Village
Book, "OLD COACHING DAYS in Otago & Southland" by Edgar Lovell-Smith, 1931
Book, OLD COACHING DAYS in Otago & Southland
Cromwell Museum
Painting by Edgar Lovell-Smith (1875-1950) who'd bought a Cobb & Co. coach in 1924, which was built In Nelson in 1888
Painting: Coach at Weedens Half-Way House
Canterbury Museum
Painting by Edgar Lovell-Smith. (His coach had been used by PM Richard Seddon from 1893 until his death in 1906)
Lithograph: Christchurch in 1866; The Southern Mail leaving the Triangle, Cashel Street, for Timaru
Canterbury Museum
Painting by Lovell-Smith. (He donated his coach to Canterbury Museum in 1926, according to Evening Post, 6 Oct 1926)
Painting: The South Road in the Sixties, Canty
Canterbury Museum
Cobb & Co. coach in '100 years of Progress Procession' held on 18 Dec 1950 as part of Canterbury centennial celebrations
Horse and carriage at a Canterbury Centennial parade
Christchurch City Libraries
Cobb & Co. coach used between Napier & Taupō as part of Palmerston North 75th Jubilee celebrations parade, 1953
Transport parade, as part of Palmerston North 75th Jubilee celebrations
Palmerston North City Library
Rear of the Cobb & Co. float in the Christmas Parade, 1960
Cobb & Co float
Christchurch City Libraries
Model seated on a Cobb & Co. coach, 23 April 1974
Model on Cobb & Co coach
Christchurch City Libraries
Cobb & Co. stagecoach with passengers in replica costume from the Addington Show Grounds to Sheffield, 14 Feb 1977
Stage coach to Sheffield
Christchurch City Libraries
Rotorua's Centennial stagecoach which travelled to Howick, Jan 1980
Centennial stagecoach, Howick, 1980.
Auckland Libraries
Rotorua's Centennial stagecoach at Howick, Jan 1980
Centennial stagecoach, Howick, 1980.
Auckland Libraries
NZOnScreen: “Landmarks - The Main Trunk Line" includes film of Cobb & Co. stagecoaches, 1981
Landmarks - The Main Trunk Line
NZ On Screen
Plaque installed in Upper Hutt: 'This site was originally a Cobb and Co stables...", March 1995
Historic site plaque, Main Street; Davis store/Cobb & Co. stables.
Upper Hutt City Library
Book on the history of Cobb & Co. in Otago, c.2003
Book, From Wells Fargo, California, to COBB AND CO., OTAGO
Cromwell Museum
A team of five horses pulling a replica of a gold-rush Cobb & Co coach over the Old Dunstan Road in 2007
Old Dunstan Road
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Book: "Let ’em go : a history of coaching and horse-drawn transportation in the South Island of New Zealand", 2008
Let ’em go : a history of coaching and horse-drawn transportation in the South Island of New Zealand
South Canterbury Museum
Postcard with a Cobb and Co coach in the Canterbury rural township exhibition at Canterbury Museum
Postcard of a Cobb and Co coach
Canterbury Museum
Cobb & Co coaches can be viewed at various museums in NZ, including the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum and Fairlie Heritage Museum:
- Dunedin City Council's Youtube video (2012) "The Cobb and Co Coach - Toitū Otago Settlers Museum" (2:12 mins) shows the construction of their Cobb & Co. display.
- The Cobb & Co. coach held by the Fairlie Heritage Museum is featured in an article in the Timaru Herald (13 June 2022) by Keiller MacDuff, "Historic stagecoach and old-fashioned horsepower return to the streets of Fairlie" (Stuff.co.nz), which also includes a video (2:08 mins) and photographs.
Coaches are on exhibit at various museums, including in Christchurch, Dunedin & Lawrence
original Stage Coach from highway 73
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
A Concord coach is held by the Fairlie Heritage Museum & a replica coach is outside the Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre
Coaches outside the Gladstone Grand Hotel, Fairlie
South Canterbury Museum
A Cobb & Co. mail coach in the Clydesdale Museum, Mystery Creek, Hamilton, 30 Aug 1981
A Cobb and Co mail coach in the Clydesdale Museum.
Howick Historical Village
Model of a stage coach designed reportedly by Captain John Butt in c.1860s held by the Thames Museum
Model. Cobb & Co Stage Coach
Thames Museum
Find out more:
- Austin, K. A., Cobb, Freeman (1830–1878), Australian dictionary of biography, Vol 3, 1969.
- 'COACHES AND COACHING', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/coaches-and-coaching
- Cobb & Co.: Our story, URL: https://www.cobb.co.nz/our-story (Timeline for the Cobb & Co. restaurants in NZ)
- D. C. McDonald, 'Devine, Edward', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1d10/devine-edward ]
- 'First Cobb & Co. coach service runs to Otago goldfields', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/first-cobb-and-co-coach-service-runs-to-otago-goldfields, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 7-Oct-2021
- Jane Tolerton, 'Coaches and long-distance buses - Coach travel', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/coaches-and-long-distance-buses/page-2
- Jeff Powell (1 March 2006), On the tracks of Cobb & Co, Australian Heritage (pp.21-28)
- Keiller MacDuff (13 June 2022), "Historic stagecoach and old-fashioned horsepower return to the streets of Fairlie", Stuff.co.nz
- Lawn, C.A. (1977), "The pioneer land surveyors of New Zealand". [Wellington, N.Z. : New Zealand Institute of Surveyors)
- Tim Shoebridge, 'Mail and couriers', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/mail-and-couriers
- Wikipedia: Cobb & Co, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co
- Wikipedia: Cobb & Co. (New Zealand), URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co._(New_Zealand)
- Wikipedia: Cobb & Co. (restaurant), URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co._(restaurant)
This DigitalNZ story was compiled in September 2023