 | |
| Established | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Location | 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba |
| Coordinates | 27°33′19″S151°57′53″E / 27.5554°S 151.9646°E |
| Type | History museum |
| Website | Cobb & Co Museum website |
The Cobb & Co Museum is at 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. [1]
The museum was originally established to house The Cobb & Co. Collection of W. R. F. Bolton [2] consisting of over thirty 19th century horse-drawn vehicles which he collected and had restored over a period of more than thirty years. This Collection also includes over one hundred artifacts, comprising saddles, machinery, tools, and items of domestic and occupational use. [3] The expansion of the museum over time, with the addition and consolidation of other collections, has led to the museum becoming internationally recognised as housing The National Carriage Collection. [4]
The Collection was originally on display in Toowoomba at the premises of Cobb & Co. Limited, Mr Bolton's road transport company, from 1965 until 1981. Jenny Cardell, Mr Bolton's daughter, and her husband, Adrian Cardell, purchased the Collection through their company Banks Pty. Ltd. in 1980. [5] They then entered into protracted negotiations with the Queensland Government to donate the Collection to the Queensland Museum on the condition that the Collection would be housed at Toowoomba in a purpose-built building. [6]
A formal Deed of Gift which provided that the museum would attempt to develop the Museum in the longer term as a specialized branch of the Queensland Museum in the Eastern Darling Downs area for the benefit of the people in the area from which the Collection was largely drawn [7] was finally entered into in 1982. The museum also gave its assurance that the Collection will be regarded as a memorial to Mr. W. R. F. Bolton and the pioneers of transportation in the State of Queensland and that, in the light of that objective, the museum will treat the necessity to preserve the Collection intact as its primary responsibility. [8]
Pursuant to the provisions of the Deed of Gift the Queensland Museum opened the Cobb & Co. Museum to display the Collection in 1987. A decision was subsequently made to augment the Collection by relocating the Queensland Museum's own collection of 19th century vehicles then held at Brisbane.[ citation needed ]
The popularity of the Cobb & Co. Museum led to a second stage being added to the existing Museum to create a space to display the history of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. This extension brought the entire museum space to over . The refurbished Cobb & Co. Museum also allowed space to house the Museum Resource Centre for Southern Queensland.[ citation needed ]
An $8 million redevelopment of the museum was undertaken in 2010, with $2 million being subscribed by public donations. The extensions included the construction of a custom designed Factory area to house facilities for a range of heritage trades. Several additional galleries were added at this point, some of which house a range of temporary exhibits. One and two-day workshops in heritage trades including blacksmithing, silversmithing, stonemasonry, millinery, leather crafting, felting, glass art, calligraphy, leather plaiting, and creative bookmaking are conducted throughout the year.[ citation needed ]
The museum now houses over 50 horse-drawn vehicles, including sturdy drays and farm wagons, that tell the story of European settlement on the Darling Downs, while sulkies and buggies demonstrate transportation imported to Australia during the 1880s. Elaborate Phaetons, Victoria Carriages, and a Landau, said to have been owned by a governor of Queensland, [9] give a glimpse of the times when life's pace was a little slower. Three original Cobb & Co. coaches, including the last coach that ran from Yuleba to Surat in 1924, complete the collection.[ citation needed ]
Cobb & Co. coach No. 100 is of particular interest. In 1963 Mr. Bolton arranged at his personal cost, the longest coach journey ever undertaken, a re-enactment of a Cobb & Co. coach trip from Port Douglas to Melbourne via the inland route. [10] Donations were raised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and passengers were taken on board the coach during the journey, paying a fee for travel. The Royal Flying Doctor Service received over £26,000, the gross proceeds of the event.[ citation needed ]
Toowoomba is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is 125 km (78 mi) west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the nation's capital of Canberra, and hence the largest city on the Darling Downs. It is the third largest regional centre in Queensland, often referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs.
Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, when it was carried by many stagecoaches carrying passengers and mail to various Australian goldfields, and later to many regional and remote areas of the Australian outback. The same name was used in New Zealand and Freeman Cobb used it in South Africa.
Oakey is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport.
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally applied to an area approximating to that of the Condamine River catchment upstream of Condamine township but is now applied to a wider region comprising the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi local authority areas. The name Darling Downs was given in 1827 by Allan Cunningham, the first European explorer to reach the area and recognises the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling.
STQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. The callsign STQ stands for Sunshine Television, Queensland.
The modern history of Toowoomba begins in the 19th century. Europeans began exploring and settling in the area from 1816 on-wards. By the end of the 1840s the rich lands around Toowoomba were being used for agriculture. 12 suburban allotments at Drayton were surveyed in 1849. Small commercial settlements were growing with schools and churches also being built. The first council election took place in 1861 and the telegraph connection to Brisbane was established in 1862. Between 1868 and 1886, several new railway lines from Toowoomba were opened. Throughout the 21st century the city prospered with new hospitals, large industrial buildings and education facilities established. Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport was opened in 2014.
The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist museums located in North Ipswich in Ipswich, East Toowoomba in Toowoomba, and in Townsville City in Townsville.
Meringandan is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Meringandan had a population of 487 people.
Pittsworth is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Pittsworth had a population of 3,294 people.
RTQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Queensland in Australia. The network was owned by Star Television, before being purchased by the WIN Corporation on 5 October 1988.
The proposed Crows Nest Wind Farm, will be located in south-eastern Queensland, 40 kilometres north of Toowoomba. It initially was to have an installed generating capacity of 124 MW that would produce intermittent electricity that could power some 47,000 homes during periods of high wind. It is expected that the wind farm will create 460 manufacturing and construction jobs and a further 15 full-time maintenance jobs in Crows Nest. The Crows Nest location on the western edge of the Darling Downs, offers some of the best average wind speeds available in Queensland, and the project will provide additional security of electricity supply in this fast-growing area.
Heritage Bank Limited is Australia's second-largest mutual bank. Its head office is in Toowoomba, Queensland.
The Toowoomba Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia.
Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, in East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia.
Toowoomba Foundry Pty Ltd is a heritage-listed former foundry at 251-267 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1910 to 1940s. It is also known as Griffiths Brothers & Company, Southern Cross Works, and Toowoomba Foundry and Railway Rolling Stock Manufacturing Company. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 July 2004. The northern and western portions of the site have undergone redevelopment as a Bunnings Warehouse outlet, having obtained Toowoomba Regional Council approval to demolish some of the heritage-listed structures on the site. Construction commenced in late 2016, with the store opening in late 2017.
Toowoomba Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 136 Margaret Street, Toowoomba City, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1878 to 1908 by John Gargett. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.
The Jarowair are an indigenous Australian people of the Darling Downs area of Queensland.
William Robert Fossey Bolton MBE was a transport businessman and philanthropist, who lived in the Toowoomba area of south-east Queensland, Australia. His efforts saw the creation of a library and art gallery focused on Australian heritage of European settlement, and his interest in preserving the memory of horse-drawn transport contributed to a museum collection.
Harris House is a heritage-listed house at 1 Clifford Street, Toowoomba City, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1912 to 1946 by Montague Ivory. It is also known as Cliffordene. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 July 2019.
Sydney (Don) Featherstone (1902–1984) is known for his work as an amateur filmmaker in Australia, being awarded a British Empire Medal for services to cinephotography.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
