Freeman Cobb

Freeman Cobb (10 October 1830 – 24 May 1878)[1] was an American, born in Brewster, Massachusetts, who established the Cobb & Co stagecoach company in 1853 with partners John Murray Peck, James Scanlon and John B. Lamber. The company was based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and ran American-imported Concord coaches to and from the Victorian goldfields. Cobb returned to the United States after three and a half years but associates continued operating under the name Cobb & Company. He had introduced the use of Concord coaches to Australia and built a brand so strong the companies operated it until 1924.

In 1871 Cobb took his family to South Africa in 1871 to establish a Cobb & Co Ltd stagecoach service with Charles Cole, who had operated Cobb & Co coaches in New Zealand and Japan. The new company started operating between Port Elizabeth and the new diamond fields at Kimberley. Cobb died at Port Elizabeth in 1878.[1]