New South Wales - Colonial: 1854-1900.
Overview of developments.

Summaries are provided below for:

  1. construction of the major telegraph line initiatives;
  2. Telegraph Offices opened in the first 10 years;
  3. milestones in the Legislation for and the administration of the Telegraph Department in NSW;
  4. the dates for new developments in telegraph forms and date stamps;
  5. extent of usage of the telegraph lines -
    domestic use;
    early international use.

To access copies of original documents, including Annual Reports, etc, see the list elsewhere.

Telegraph lines.

October 1857 and
January 1858.		 Liverpool to Sydney and
then Sydney to South Head lines constructed.
30 December 1857 First telegraphic messages communicated in N.S.W. (sort of anyway).
29 October 1858. First line to Victoria (via Albury and Wodonga).
9 November 1861. First line to Queensland (via Tenterfield and Ipswich).
11 September 1866. First line to South Australia (via Wentworth and Overland Corner).
26 September 1869 The positions of Telegraph Master and Post Master were amalgamated.
21 February 1876 First telegraphic cable between Australia (NSW - Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland) opened.
   
1963 The last Morse Code message on the eastern seaboard was sent between Bombala and Sydney.

For the listings of the construction of the telegraph lines and the opening of all Telegraph Offices in N.S.W., use these hyperlinks.

 

N.S.W. Telegraph Offices opening in the first 10 years.

Region 1857 to 1859 1860 to 1862 1863 to 1866
First lines 1857:
Sydney.
1858: Liverpool, Parramatta, Redfern R.S., South Head,		    
North East   1862:
Grafton		  
North Central   1862:
Scone, Tambaroora, 		1865:
Merriwa,
Northern line to Qld 1858:
Albury		 1860:
Maitland West, Newcastle, Windsor, Windeyer
1861:
Armidale, Glen Innes, Murrurundi, Muswellbroook, Singleton, Tamworth, Tenterfield,
1862:
East Maitland.		 1863:
Bendemeer,
Central West 1859:
Bathurst		 1860:
Hartley, Orange, Penrith,
1861: Lambing Flat (Young), Mudgee, Sofala, Wellington,
1862:
Forbes, Obley, Windeyer

1864:
Dubbo,
1865:
Cassilis,
1866:
Burrowa
South East 1858:
Berrima		 1860:
Kiandra,
1861:
Braidwood, Kiama, Kyamba, Tumut.
1862: Wollongong.		 1864:
Queanbeyan
1865:
Araluen, Cooma
1866:
Adelong
Southern line to Vic. 1858:
Gundagai		   1866:
Picton
Riverina Murray   1861:
Deniliquin, Wagga Wagga

1864:
Hay, Moama,
1866:
Balranald, Jerilderie, Moulamein,

Far West      
Sydney Suburban

 

    

 

Administration

April 1854. The Electric Telegraph Bill - First telegraph legislation.
  The name was The Electric Telegraph Department (ETD) from its formation in 1854 to 1893.
7 July 1855 Henry Parkes, in the Legislative Council, asked for "copies of correspondence or a statement of steps taken by the Government, with reference to the introduction into the colony of the electric telegraph. The Colonial Secretary said there but been no correspondence, but some negotiations had been commenced"
  Appointment of Captain B. H. Martindale RE, Under-Secretary of Public Works, as Superintendent of Telegraphs.
1 March 1857

"The order of the day for the second reading of the Electric Telegraph Bill was withdrawn with the view to having the bill, which was found to embrace money matters, initiated in the Assembly".

On 12 March 1857, it was moved by Mr. Parker that the Bill now be read a third time.It passed 24 Ayes, 8 Noes. Its title was fixed as"An Act to establish and regulate Electric Telegraphs" and it was ordered to be forwarded to the Legislative Council. On 16 March 1857, the Council was informed by the President that the Electric Telegraph Bill had been given Royal Assent.
5 March 1857 In the Legislative Council, "a Bill to provide for the establishment and regulation of Electric Telegraphs was read a first time". It passed through the Commitee of the Council on 12 March.
July 1857 The Governor-General appointed John Whitton, Esq., to be Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs in New South Wales.
1857 ETD transferred from Public Works to the Postmaster-General.
March 1857 Royal Assent to the Electric Telegraph Act.
January 1858 E. C. Cracknell appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Telegraphs under Martindale until the latter's retirement in January 1861.
February 1858 First Regulations"fixing the Fees to be charged for the transmission and delivery of messages by the lines of Electric Telegraph, and providing generally for the management of the said lines".
July 1867 "On and after the 1st July, the Electric Telegraph Department, so far as telegraph lines are completed and in actual operation, will be placed under the ministerial control of the Postmaster-General, instead of the Secretary for Public Works as heretofore. From the same date, the Money Order Office, in addition to the business of the Post Office, is also to be in the Ministerial charge of the Postmaster-General" (Yass Courier 3 July 1867).
25 September 1869 The Government decided to amalgamate Post and Telegraph Offices.
March 1873

The Postmaster-General has intimated that "no officer or employee in the Electric Telegraph Department will be permitted to engage in any trading or mining speculations. Any officer or employee who may so act will be ineligible for employment in that department".
14 January 1893 Death of E. C. Cracknell
August 1893 Completed the long transition period of amalgamating the Post and the Telegraph Departments.
1894-1897 Sir Joseph Cook was Postmaster-General of NSW. He was elected as Member for Manly in the House of Representatives from 1901-1921 and Prime Minister 1913-14.
September 1903 "At a meeting of the Post and Telegraph masters of the city and suburbs, held on Wednesday evening last, it was decided to form a society for the purpose of mutual advancement and protectionPerhaps partly in response to the strike by Telegraph Office personnel at Coolgardie (Western Australia) in 1895. ".

An excellent review of early developments and their major impact on the NSW Colony and its people was published in the Maitland Mercury on 9 September 1858.

 

Forms and postmarks.

Earliest recorded forms:  
Transmission form: 11 December 1858 (NC-TO-1).
Delivery form: 11 August 1863 (NC-DO-1).
Delivery form with a space for a date stamp: Redesigned in 1876 (NC-DO-5 - H).
Earliest use of a postal date stamp on a telegram form: 2 October 1876 at Sydney (NC-DO-5 - H).
Earliest use of an oval date stamp: 29 January 1886 at Elec. Tel. Dep., Sydney.
Earliest use of a Telegraph date stamp:

Electric Telegraph Office - on NC-DO-8Ab (6 May 1887)
Postal & Tel. Dept Sydney (23 December 1900);
Telegraph Branch, Sydney (6 March 1913);
Telegraphs Wagga Wagga (18 August 1924) .

Use of stamps to pay telegram costs:  
Telegram stamps: 1873
1885 proposal: 1885
1893 proposal: Stamps and the 6d and 1/- stamped forms.
Telegraphic Money Order system introduced: 1 July 1860.

Usage.

 

International use.

Int use After telegraphic connection was made to complete the line from Adelaide to Europe, the demand for the international service grew steadily - despite the high rates charged.

The graph shows the rise in demand for both transmitted and received message - especially from 1876 when the 10s 6d. per word rate was introduced - to nearly 10,000 of each.

The data on which the graph is based are included elsewhere.