BOB THE RAILWAY DOG 1882 - 1895

On Friday November 20th.2009 Bob the Railway Dog arrived in Peterborough. From his prime position in front of the Tourist carriage he will continue to engage with his public as he did all those years ago when he rode the rails through this town.

As well as Bob’s memorial, Peterborough now owns a superb piece of bronze sculpture by the South Australian artist Silvio Apponyi. He has captured the essence of Bob - free spirit but a friend to all, dignified with a touch of larrikin. In creating our Bob, Silvio has used an image from an original photo, one of a handful still in existence, taken by George Hiscock in Terowie in 1892.

The engine drivers companion and every traveller’s friend.

Where did Bob the Railway Dog come from?

In an article from the Southern Argus newspaper22 August 1895 (one of the many articles that appeared following Bob’s death) Henry Hollamby said he bred Bob the Railway Dog. The newspaper reported-

“As there seems to be a considerable amount of curiosity concerning the breed, I take the liberty of writing to say that he was bred by me and that I owned his mother, grandmother and great- grandmother. He, when a puppy, was given to Mr. James Mott, who kept the Macclesfield Hotel. Bob’s father was a German Collie Dog. At the time the railway was being made to Strathalbyn and he followed some men to the line. He was then called “Navvy”. Mr Mott brought him back two or three times before he lost him. At about that time he was nine months old. The breed was well known here as first class cattle dogs, when my children heard Bob bark they thought how much he was like his mother in voice as well as looks. I made a good price of all the breed that I sold and could always find customers. I believe the breed came from Sydney with some of the first cattle, as the late Mr T. Oakley of Blackfellow's Creek had them when first I came to the colony 44 years ago.'

The story of Bob, railway mascot, really begins at Terowie in the mid north of South Australia as was reported in the Advertiser’s 1936 article titled “Owned Bob the Railway Dog – an interview with William Seth Ferry”. According to William Ferry he first saw Bob in a cattle truck at Terowie (where he was a special guard) with about 50 other stray dogs from Adelaide who were consigned to a rabbiter at Carrieton. He took a fancy to him and when they got to Carrieton offered to buy him. The rabbiter refused. He would however do a swap – one dog being as good as another! Willam went on to Pt. Augusta, found a stray dog at the Police Station, returned and made the swap.............and the rest is history.

A few months later William Ferry transferred to Petersburg as Porter/Guard and by the time he left in 1889 for Western Australia was Assistant Station Master. During this time Bob had graduated from travelling the line with his owner, to free spirit, jumping on and off trains as the mood took him, making interstate journeys and short suburban trips on trams as well as trains (he also made river trips on the Murray Steamers