Amos Fogg
Business leader
Inducted 28th June 2017
Amos Fogg was born in 1904 in Sweetman’s Creek, Wollombi, where he grew up and attended school.
In 1920 he moved to West Cessnock to work in the mine Aberdare Central Colliery at Kitchener with his father and brothers. There was no transport to the mine site, and Amos, his father and brothers would ride their pushbikes to and from the site each day. At 18, Amos purchased his first vehicle, a T-Model Ford truck, which he fitted out with seats and within a short period of time was transporting 20 co-workers to the colliery for a small fee.
A couple of years later Amos replaced the truck, and expanded his enterprise to include the first bus services from Bellbird to Cessnock, and weekend services to Wangi Wangi and Nelson’s Bay. Amos was married in 1924.
In 1926 Amos was pinned beneath a large slab of coal in an accident in the mine. Amos spent 18 months in Cessnock Hospital, and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.
Despite his injuries, Amos continued to manage and build his bus company. In 1938, Fogg’s Bus Service was sold to Rover Motors, and Amos moved to Mayfield in Newcastle with his family where he built a large bus depot and began running services between Mayfield and Cardiff.
Amos continued to build the company and establish new related businesses. By 1954, Amos had expanded his holdings to a ’million pound bus empire’. He was the director of Rover Motors, Hunter Valley Coach Company, Kurri Kurri Omnibus Company Ltd, Toronto Taxis Pty. Ltd, Lindsay Brothers Pty. Ltd, Fogg’s Motor Service Pty Ltd, Fogg’s Tours Pty Ltd, Fogg’s Electrical and Diesel Co. Pty. Ltd, Atla Agencies Pty. Ltd, and Atla Industries Pty. Ltd.
From humble beginnings, armed with an enterprising spirit, Amos Fogg had a vision to provide transport for the people of the Cessnock Coalfields and the Hunter Valley, and build the largest private bus operation in Australia. When Amos died suddenly in 1954, he controlled 10 bus companies and subsidiary business, employing a staff of 250 and running 120 buses and eight coaches servicing Cessnock, Maitland, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Plaque location
54 Vincent Street, Cessnock (garden bed)