The char-à-banc, which comes from the French “carriage with benches”, was a horse-drawn vehicle or later, motor coach. They were open-topped and were often used for taking large parties on sight-seeing adventures. 

Withers started his char-à-banc business in 1907, escorting Melbournites on sight-seeing trips around country Victoria.

A four-day Easter weekend trip on a Withers’ char-à-banc in 1915 featured stops in Woodend, Daylesford, Ballarat, Clunes, Maryborough, Lexton, Beaufort, Ballan and Melton. The Ballarat stop featured a tour of the Botanic Gardens and other “show places of the City of Statues.”

An article in The Herald in 1916 waxed lyrical on the experience of traversing the countryside in a Withers’ char-à-banc, contending that unlike train travel, “in these beautiful cars, in congenial company, whose laughter and song cheers every mile of the road, one drinks in the fresh air and scent of the flowers in the valleys and revels in the beautiful scenery and views obtained from the hilltops.” 

 

Sounds like a sweet ride!

 MH59 Withers’ Char-à-banc outside the Union Hotel on Sturt Street, circa 1913. Max Harris Collection.

 

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