In 1853, a young American arrived in the new colony of Victoria hoping to
make his fortune from the world's greatest gold rush. He soon realised that the
real money was to be made from the miners' need to travel from the fields where
they found their gold to the towns where they spent it, and established a coach
company that would literally carry his name into every household in the land:
Cobb & Co.
But Freeman Cobb himself was long gone by the time the company bearing his
name became an Australian legend. 'Wild Ride' is the story of the two
extraordinary men, James Rutherford and Frank Whitney, who along with their
business partners took Cobb's humble company and made it into the company of its
day. These were pioneers, carving a path through otherwise impassable terrain,
settling unsettled land, enduring bushrangers and terrible accidents, and making
their fortunes. The Rutherford and Whitney families became two of the most
significant of their era, unrivalled in their influence and, finally, vicious in
their falling out.
Written with unprecedented access to these families' letters and diaries,
'Wild Ride' reveals the Cobb & Co story in all its drama, conflict and tragedy.
It is the compelling and human story of Australia's first great company and the
people who made it an icon.
Contents:
Introduction
Part 1: Young Entrepreneurs: 1853-1864
1. Freeman Cobb
2. A Line of Well-Appointed Coaches
3. A Business No-one Could Afford
4. James Rutherford
5. The Consortium
6. Expansion into New South Wales
7. Homesick and Lonely
8. The Partners' Wives
Part 2: The Boom Years: 1865-1882
9. Expansion into Queensland
10. Diversification
11. Moving Up in Life
12. Roads, Routes and Passengers
Part 3: A Certain Station in Life: 1883-1895
13. Opportunity Soured
14. Status and Power
15. Financial Collapse
16. Descent Into Lunacy
Part 4: A Battle of Wills: 1895-1929
17. A Painful Division
18. Legal Challenges
19. The Death of Coaching
Epilogue
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
