Cobb & Co at the Royal Easter Show

The display of Cobb & Co coaches at the this year's Royal Easter Show was an interesting find, giving us a new perspective on the information contained in the Mail Delivery Contracts and Contractors Database of History Services NSW

The colonial government of New South Wales required the services of thousands of contractors to deliver the mail throughout the State. History Services NSW has details of 12000 contracts awarded to persons to provide specific mail services over the period 1835 to 1901.

Cobb And Co, founded by Freeman Cobb and partners in 1854, is listed in the Database as having 253 mail routes.

Mr James Malone, a pioneer of the Braidwood district of NSW, drove the coach, as pictured above, to deliver mail from 1841. He was at first an employed driver for various contractors when the service ran once a week to Bungonia and then later twice weekly to Goulburn. Then in the days of the goldrushes in the Goulburn district, Malone in partnership with Mr J J Roberts took over the contract himself. He sold his rights to Cobb & Co in 1878.

History Services NSW records that James Malone was awarded 11 mail contracts from 1854 to 1877.

His sons were also mail contractors in the Braidwood district - Owen having 20 contracts, Luke 11, Hugh 5, and Patrick 2.

If you would like to research the details of the mail contracts awarded to the Malone family, or indeed any persons who had mail contracts for the period 1835 to 1901, go to our website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/mail.htm