Backward Glance: Cobb and Co. - Part 1
Gold prospector James Nash struck gold in a creek bed near Gympie in October 1867 – just over 150 years ago.
Gold prospecting, the North Coast Road and the lights of Cobb and Co.
Gold prospector James Nash struck gold in a creek bed near Gympie in October 1867 – just over 150 years ago.
This sparked the gold rush, and for a while the town was known as Nashville. In 1868 Nashville was renamed Gympie. James Nash had made approximately $14,000 from his findings. All that existed in the region was a mining shanty town made up of tents, small stores and liquor outlets.
It was a valuable goldfield and the wealth it brought was credited with saving Queensland from bankruptcy. Gympie became known as 'the town that saved Queensland'. Mining went deeper and deeper as the alluvial gold was harvested. Queensland’s largest nugget was found in Gympie and weighed approximately 26kg.
The Conondale Range lies in the Sunshine Coast western hinterland area, and the Coast’s history would not be complete without stories of pioneers who lived in the sheltered fertile valleys of the Conondale district, where creeks flowed into the headwaters of the Mary River valley.
In 1841, the Archer brothers took up Durundur Station – 7km from what is now Woodford. The property comprised of about 200 square miles, taking in the Stanley River basin, bounded by Kilcoy to the west, the Mary River to the north, the D’Aguilar Range to the east and Mt Brisbane to the south.
The country was very desirable as it contained rich stands of fine timbers, including Blackbutt, Ironbark and cedar varieties along the river banks. Unwooded, grassed areas made the region one of promise for settlers looking for pasture. One of the many visitors to Durundur in 1843 was the explorer Ludwig Leichardt.
In 1848 Durundur was sold to David and John McConnel and was later split into smaller parcels of farming land to encourage settlement. By the early 1850s, several runs were taken up along the Mary River, including Conondale, Cambroon, Oobie Oobie and Kenilworth.
Three routes along the Conondale Range were used by early explorers and settlers. One went past Durundur, up the Stanley River and along the steep spur to the crest of the Conondale Range crossing and proceeded down the northern slopes to Conondale Station, following the Mary River.
When gold was discovered in Gympie large numbers of gold seekers made their way to the Gympie gold fields. The gold seekers travelled along Postman’s track, which was used weekly by the pack horse mail service. They would then follow the rich flats of the Mary River towards Gympie. Within a matter of months there were over 25,000 people on the Gympie gold fields.
The track from Brisbane to Gympie had been inspected in 1867 by Cobb and Co’s Brisbane road manager, Mr. Whatmore, who condemned it. The Gympie residents and others wanting to get to Gympie were anxious.
Cobb and Co successfully provided reliable transport for settlers and miners between Melbourne and Ballarat in 1854. Their transport business was fast and acquired mail contracts on a number of routes. The coach company was established by American Freeman Cobb from Massachusetts and three other original founders who drew upon their previous experience at large American coaching companies such as Wells Fargo and Co.
Cobb and Co employed experienced drivers and numerous groomers to care for the horses as there were horse changes at regular intervals along every route. Due to this company’s policy, horses ran at greater speeds over shorter distances between the changing stages – reducing journey times. Teams of five and six horses were used by Cobb and Co which provided more pulling power in the rough and hilly terrain. Upon approach to a town the coach driver would sound a bugle to alert the isolated communities of their arrival.
Cobb and Co shareholder Hiram Barnes decided to conduct an additional inspection of the proposed Brisbane to Gympie route. Starting in the afternoon, he pulled up at Tom Petrie’s place ‘Murrumba’ on the Pine River where he was welcomed and stayed the night.
The next day, Barnes and Tom Petrie continued their journey to Gympie along what is now known as Old Gympie Road. After a thorough inspection of creeks and swampy patches they reached Grigor’s establishment near the Glass House Mountains.
The rough country started after Mooloolah, but he described it as ‘not too difficult’. The worst obstacle was crossing the Maroochy River and the crossing of the Bottle and Glass Mountain towards Belli.
Due to the difficult terrain, they had a rest and required special horses for the hard haul. They continued north towards the Eumundi-Kenilworth region, then on to Tuchekoi. Before a horse change and meal stop near Coles Creek.
Upon arrival in Gympie, Mr. Barnes was met by an enthusiastic crowd and he announced that the route would go through to Gympie. Mr. Barnes said he and the company were prepared to run a coach after some improvements to the route.
During a well-attended meeting in Brisbane on May 8, 1868, it was announced that the government would build a road connecting Brisbane to Gympie. James Rutherford, Manager of Cobb and Co, advised that as soon as a suitable road was completed his firm would run regular coach services between Brisbane and Gympie.
End of Part One.
Image Captions
Hero image: Coochin Creek Hotel, Beerwah, ca 1895
John Simpson (Hotel owner) driving buggy, Mrs W. Raddatz passenger. Built in 1880s as a hotel, store and guest house, it was a stopping place for Cobb & Co coaches. Simpson built another hotel with the arrival of the railway, and when the highway was built, a relative built a further hotel to catch the road trade. The Simpsons finally sold their hotels in 1968.
Image 1: Clementina Burgess (nee Grigor) with her daughter Mary Ferris and Mary's children Bill and Clementina on the veranda of Bankfoot House, Glass House Mountains, ca 1930. Taken at the time of the demolition of the 1868 Bankfoot House in 1930
Image 2: William and Mary Grigor with three of their sons in the garden at Bankfoot House, ca 1895.
William and Mary (nee Fenwick) were both born in Scotland, arrived in Moreton Bay in 1855 and married in 1863. In 1868, with the completion of the Gympie Road, they moved to the Glass House Mountains, where they opened 'Bankfoot House', providing a lunch stop for Cobb and Co. coaches. Bankfoot House was named after a village in Perthshire, Scotland, where Mary Grigor, was born.
Image 3: Demolition of the original Bankfoot House, ca 1930
The original Bankfoot House built in 1868 had to be demolished in 1930 due to white ant infestation in the log foundations. The house was a narrow building about 60 feet long (18.3 metres). Materials were salvaged from the house to add two additional rooms and a veranda to the 1878 extension. William Smith Burgess is standing in front of the house and an unknown man is leaning on the post.
Image 4: Group of North Coast pioneers who met the Cobb & Co. Coach at Landsborough during Queensland's Centenary Year, 1959
Pictured L to R: Agnes Tolson, nee: Maddock (Eudlo), her brother Ewen Maddock, Martin Rungert (Mooloolah), Clementina Burgess, nee: Grigor (Bankfoot House, Glass House Mountains), Mrs and Mr R. Simpson (Caloundra) and John Skerman (1st Maleny Butter Factory Manager). Cobb & Co.