Unveiling the myth about Cobb & Co and Rosewood

by Jane Schy 

Many times I’ve heard or read a discussion about whether Cobb & Co coaches travelled to Rosewood and stopped at the Rising Sun Hotel. People seemed to have different opinions so I went looking for an answer.

The answer I found is Cobb & Co did not come to Rosewood.

The first railway line between Ipswich and Bigge’s Camp was opened on 31st July, 1865 by Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. The train service between Ipswich and Bigge’s Camp was already running before the firm of Cobb & Co began its services in Queensland.

Cobb & Co operated in Queensland from 1866 until 1924. Three of their Southern routes were from Brisbane to Ipswich, from Bigge’s Camp (Grandchester)  to Toowoomba and from Toowoomba to Dalby.

From the 1st January, 1866 Cobb & Co coaches carried mail and passengers from Brisbane to Ipswich. Mail was then transferred to a train and passengers boarded the train for their journey to Grandchester where they were met by another Cobb & Co coach to convey them to Toowoomba.

Map – Cobb & Co Coaching in Queensland – Deboroah Tranter

The newspapers contained the following:
Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser, Saturday 21 October 1865, page 3
We learn that the well-known firm of Cobb and Co. have succeeded in being the accepted tenderers for the line of mails between Brisbane and Toowoomba. Their contract will commence on the 1st of January next.

Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser , Saturday 25 November 1865, page 3
Two coaches and ten horses, the property of Messrs. Cobb and Co., arrived in town last evening at about seven o’clock. The coaches, which are capable of containing ten passengers each, are intended to be run between Dalby and Toowoomba, and they will start for the latter place to-day. Both coaches and horses appear to be of an excellent class and well suited for the work. Mr. H. Barnes, a gentleman who had the control of one of the New South Wales routes, and who appears to have given general satisfaction to the public and his employers, has been appointed to the management of the Queensland branches. The coaches intended to be run between Ipswich and Brisbane will arrive shortly, and will be turned out in first-class style. The contract time for this route is three hours, but it is intended to perform the journey in less time if possible. 

Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser , Saturday 30 December 1865, page 3
Two of Cobb and Co.’s coaches arrived by the Diamantina, from Sydney. They are large and well-finished vehicles, capable of carrying thirty passengers, are a great improvement on the style of coaches hitherto in use in the colony.

As the construction of the railway line pushed further on, the line to Gatton opened on 1st June, 1866 and the line to Helidon opened on 1st August, 1866. When it reached Toowoomba, opening on 1st May, 1867, it marked the end of the coach services on the Ipswich to Toowoomba route. By 1911 coaches were being replaced by motor vehicles. The last Cobb & Co coach ran between Yuelba and Surat on 14th August, 1924. 

Pre railway, other coaches certainly did come to Rosewood.

From the 1850’s there were well established coaching routes between Brisbane and Ipswich and further on to Toowoomba and Drayton (then the principal town/capital of the Darling Downs).

Mail and passengers were carried by two wheeled drays or four wheeled spring carts which, although not in the same league as the Cobb & Co vehicles of the future, were still referred to as “coaches”. Enterprising individuals ran passenger services and parcel services in opposition to the mail coaches. In September 1851 Thomas Alford started the Drayton Coach run, a four horse coach running between Ipswich and Drayton. In 1858 Joseph Booth ran a mail cart twice a week between Drayton to Ipswich. Joseph Cook from Gatton took over in December 1860. In 1864, there is mention of a mail coach from Ipswich having an accident between the Seven Mile Creek and Rosewood. The passengers were returned to Ipswich and the mail was forwarded on horseback. In the 1920’s Mr. James Uprichard ran a mail coach between Rosewood and Rosevale. Other examples, I’m sure, can be found.

The Cobb & Co Heritage Park in Rosewood, which houses a wonderful replica of a Cobb & Co coach, a great asset for our town, is one of three locations which have been designated as “Staging Posts” (places to stop, refresh and explore) along the Cobb & Co Tourist Drive. The other locations are Forest Hill and Gatton. Gatton is the only one of the three that was indeed a Staging Post for Cobb & Co. The coach’s installation in the park in 2011 was part of the Ipswich City Council’s plans to revitalise the Cobb & Co Tourist Drive between Ipswich and Toowoomba. 

Sources:
Cobb & Co Coaching in Queensland – Deborah Tranter – Published by Queensland Museum
Trove – National Libary Australia