How we got from A to B in old Queensland.
Cobb & Co.
Cobb & Co was founded in Victoria in 1853, by an American with a splendidly American name, Freeman Cobb. It was a version of the pony express at first, trading as “American Telegraph Line of Coaches.” Horses were changed regularly, and speed and efficiency made the business a nation-wide success.
Cobb & Co became synonymous with the Victorian Gold Rush era, and bushrangers found its reliability a tremendous aid to their business model – if you were intending to stick up the 4 pm coach to Bendigo, you could plan your nefarious activities almost to the minute.
Expanding into Queensland in 1865, Cobb & Co helped keep the outback in touch with the towns, eventually moving their coach-building operations to Charleville in 1886.
The company did not try and compete with the growing railway system -instead they coordinated with it. Only the arrival of the horseless carriage at the turn of the century ended Cobb & Co’s long reign over the back roads of Australia.
Cobb & Co (Roderick McCrae at the reins) dropping off the mail at the Barron River, 1887.
A Cobb & Co Coach on the deserted track to Southport, c. 1900. Frankly, I think the M1 is a much wilder proposition than a rutted cart track in the sandy lowlands.
Cobb & Co arrives in remote Augathella, 1902, and considerately poses on the bridge.
Well, they got to their destination. Any love they had for the company of their fellow man probably vanished a short way out from Barcaldine.
The last Cobb and Co run from Cloncurry to Richmond, 1907.
Looking like a scene from the Old West, this photo records Cobb & Co arriving at Mrs Wharton’s place, Kogan, in 1908.
The Royal Mail
In the 1860s, taking the mail overland was a fraught occupation. The mail carrier often had letters containing cash and money orders, and was usually alone on the back roads. This was simply too much temptation for the likes of the Wild Scotchman (James Alpin McPherson to his long-suffering parents) and the Wild Frenchman (Henry Hunter alias Russell). They would lie in wait for the hapless mailman, brandish their firearms, and make off with the mail, leaving the carrier and the local police in the dust. The Wild Scotchman even had the effrontery to write to Sir George Bowen, complaining about the quality of the goods he’d purloined from the mails sent in Sir George’s name.
The wilder bushranging days were largely over when Henry Halverson’s mail run was recorded for posterity in 1890, during a stopover in Ayr.
1890 Royal Mail. Probably not Mr Halvorsen though. Having gone to all the trouble of painting his name on the cart, I doubt that he’d consent to being partially cropped out.
Hansom Cabs and the Omnibus
Cabs
Cabs lined up outside the City Brewery, Mary Street, 1896
Hansom cabs were introduced to Brisbane shortly after Separation, and with them came traffic jams, jostling cab ranks and all manner of regulations. Cabmen began to frequent the City Court on charges ranging from furious riding, to leaving their cabs unattended, and, sadly, animal cruelty. Increasing traffic meant traffic accidents, such as this one in 1864:
“The poor boy named Bottomley, who was reported in our last issue as having been run over by one of the town cabs, opposite the Criterion Hotel, Edward-street, expired yesterday morning at eleven o’clock. The injuries he sustained, we understand, were of an internal nature, in the region of the kidneys. The wheel of the vehicle must, therefore, have passed over his loins. There will be a coroner’s inquest on the body at twelve o’clock to-day, in the Prince of Wales Hotel. In justice to the driver of the cab, whose name is James Quirk, and who has the reputation of being one of the most civil and careful cab-drivers in Brisbane, we may remark that no blame is attached to him in this melancholy affair. As we before stated, a dray was passing up the street on one side and a wool cart on the other. The cab passing between the two in the opposite direction, at a moderate pace, and when the three vehicles were abreast the deceased darted from behind one of the carts, in front of the cab horse’s head. Quirk immediately hollowed out to him, and the boy apparently bewildered, failed to secure the last possible chance of escape. The horse could not be pulled instantly, hence the unfortunate and fatal accident The little fellow cried out immediately after the accident that he was dying, a presentiment which proved too true, but which no one at that time believed in but himself.”
The North Australian (Brisbane, Qld: 1863-1865), Saturday 30 July 1864, page 2.
A tinted 1906 postcard featuring various modes of transport available – shanks’ pony, bicycle, trams and a horse-drawn cab.
As late as 1931, a horse-drawn cab could still be had in Brisbane. This one waited outside Parliament House, while its driver caught up on the news of the day.
The Bus
In 1863, the first omnibus appeared in Brisbane, plying its trade between town and Fortitude Valley. It incurred the wrath of the Courier for its slow, tired horses and dirty upholstery. Apparently the sign-writer who painted the carriage attempted a rather ornate script, with unfortunate consequences. The destination appeared to be “The Walley.” Newer, and less confusingly painted, omnibuses were brought in at the end of the first year. The Courier did not dare hope that their interiors would be any cleaner.
The Dream: a lovingly restored horse-drawn omnibus in the Queensland Museum.
The reality that confronted commuters in 1895. The tradition of sound construction and passenger comfort in Brisbane buses clearly goes back a long way.
The Railways
“The bower or pavilion to which I refer was profusely and tastefully decorated with boughs of those beautiful evergreens which are found in the scrubs throughout this colony, the front side, with the exception of the entrances, being formed with open trelliswork of the same material, and the roof supported by saplings. Altogether the interior had a very pleasing effect — very much more so than could have been produced by a more artificial and costly structure. After train No. 1, there followed, at intervals of twenty minutes, trains No.’s 2, 3, and 4. The first three conveyed ordinary guests from Brisbane and Ipswich, and the fourth contained his Excellency the Governor, Lady Bowen, and the members of both Houses of Parliament. There must have been more than six hundred persons on the ground at this time, a considerable number of whom were ladies. After climbing up the path, the Governor was received with cheers by the assembled spectators. His Excellency was dressed in the ordinary costume of the nineteenth century of English gentleman resident in Queensland, and was attended by his Aide-de-camp, resplendent in a cocked hat and feathers. To gratify your lady readers, I may state that Lady Bowen wore a light blue silk dress, with a dark blue velvet mantle — I’m sure that’s not the right name of it. As for the bonnet, I should get out of my latitude were I to attempt to describe it. All I can say is, that it was in quiet taste and was becoming. Her Ladyship, looked remarkably well, and I wish that the last five years had made no more alteration in Your Special (Correspondent) than they have done in Lady Bowen.”
Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser (Toowoomba, Qld.: 1858 – 1880), Wednesday 2 August 1865, page 3
Timber Getter making railway sleepers, c 1900. Every railway needed sleepers, and this kept the timber-getters busy for decades.
The Horseless Carriage
Mr & Mrs Trackson in their steam-powered auto, the first automobile in Queensland, c 1900. They represent the genteel face of motoring, looking ever so serene at the helm of that contraption. They did well to look serene – no seatbelts, no windscreen, and no visible means of steering.
The reality of motoring in Queensland. Mr Francis Birtles, an early enthusiast, is obliged to dig his horseless carriage out of the mud. (c 1905-1915).
Either Mr Birtles was a true motoring enthusiast, or he was not a man given to learning a lesson. Perhaps both. Here he is again, dealing with dust and grass in the bush.
The Trevethan, 1902, first automobile made in Queensland, with its creator and namesake about to take the wheel.
The Trevethan, built at Toowoomba in 1902, made it down the Toowoomba Range, a feat that challenges many modern drivers, and down to the coast. Its career was cut short in 1915, when it was badly damaged by charging bullocks. Presumably the beasts were alarmed at the strange object puttering very, very slowly towards them. After decades gathering dust in a variety of sheds, the Trevethan has been restored, and has toured the State as part of a museum show.
Moreton Bay and More 