“CABBAGE TREE NED”

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 February 1937, Page 6

“CABBAGE TREE NED”

PIONEER COACH DRIVER. In the days when the motor car was looked upon as a machine to be avoided like the plague, Cobb and Co. was a household word among those who used the coach as a method of travel in New I Zealand and Australia. The firm ran 'a service which covered a large propor|tion of the traffic roads which existed ;in the two dominions in the closing i years of last century, and probably its I best-known driver, at least so far as [Australia was concerned, was Edward Devine, or, as he was commonly called, “Cabbage Tree Ned,” who died in 1908. He was looked upon as one of the pioneers of Ballarat, and in order to preserve the memory of “a wonderful. coach driver perhaps the best in the world,” a memorial to him was unveiled on February 7 in the New Cemetery, Ballarat.

Edward Devine was not, of course, known personally to the present generation, but his name and fame are familiar as a coach driver to the older generation, and when the old employees of Cobb and Co. decided to perpetuate his memory, practical support was readily forthcoming. A Memorial Committee, which was set up to deal with the matter, sent scores of letters to all parts of the Commonwealth and New Zealand seeking information in reference to the old coach driver. The memorial took the form of a granite headstone and base over the grave of “Cabbage Tree Ned,” and on the top of the headstone in the centre is a horse’s head, and on one, side is a representation of a coach. The memorial, which was unveiled in the presence of a large crowd by Mr. F. Smiley, president of the Coach Drivers’ Association, bears the following inscription:— Edward Devine (“Cabbage Tree Ned”),

Peerless driver of Cobb’s mail coach. Born Brighton (Tasmania) 10/3/33; died Ballarat 18/12/08. Erected by Cobb and Co. old drivers, and other admirers in Australia and New Zealand.