The ‘Royal Australian Historical Society collection no. 1’ consists of a Cobb & Company (?) ‘Concord’ coach (including swingle trees, travelling trunk and supporting archival documents) which was used to transport mail and passengers across the Liverpool plains during the 1880s. This collection also includes an early nineteenth-century landau known as the ‘Ranken Coach’, which was first owned by George Ranken, a prosperous Scot who settled in Bathurst during the 1820s. It is believed to be one of the oldest surviving horse-drawn vehicles in Australia.

This collection demonstrates the important role horse-drawn vehicles played in Australia’s transport and communications history. As representative of both prestigious vehicles used for recreation and as a reflection of status as well as the vital role played by coaches in establishing communication systems across the country, these rare examples offer significant research potential in an examination of nineteenth-century transport, engineering and society. Click here for more information.