![British & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/British_%26_Irish_Magnetic_Telegraph_Co._Limited_3_shilling_stamp_c._1862_remaindered_without_control_number.jpg)
The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company (also called the Magnetic Telegraph Company or the Magnetic) was founded by
John Brett in 1850. The Magnetic was the principal competitor to the largest telegraph company in the United Kingdom, the
Electric Telegraph Company
The Electric Telegraph Company (ETC) was a British telegraph company founded in 1846 by William Fothergill Cooke and John Ricardo. It was the world's first public telegraph company. The equipment used was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, ...
(the Electric). The Magnetic was the leading company in Ireland, while the Electric was the leading company in mainland Britain. Between them, they dominated the market until the
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
was
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1870.
The Magnetic's telegraph system differed from other telegraph companies. They favoured underground cables rather than wires
suspended on poles. This system was problematic because of the limitations of insulation materials available at the time, but the Magnetic was constrained by the
wayleave
An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...
s owned by other companies on better routes. They were also unique in not using
batteries
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
which were required on other systems. Instead the operator generated the necessary power
electromagnetically. The coded message was sent by the operator moving handles which moved coils past a
permanent magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
thus generating telegraph
pulses
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
.
The Magnetic laid the first
submarine telegraph cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...
to Ireland and developed an extensive telegraph network there. They had a close connection with the
Submarine Telegraph Company
The Submarine Telegraph Company was a British company which laid and operated submarine telegraph cables.
Jacob and John Watkins Brett formed the English Channel Submarine Telegraph Company to lay the first cable across the English Channel. An un ...
and for a while had a monopoly on underwater, and hence, international communication. They also closely cooperated with the
London District Telegraph Company
The London District Telegraph Company was formed in 1859. It was renamed the London and Provincial Telegraph Company in 1867.
The management were connected with the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the firm aimed to compete with ...
who provided a cheap
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
service in London. The Magnetic was amongst the first to employ women as
telegraph operators.
Company history
![English & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co stamp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/English_%26_Irish_Magnetic_Telegraph_Co_stamp.jpg)
The English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company (which was known as the Magnetic) was established by
John Brett in 1850.
John Pender
Sir John Pender KCMG GCMG FSA FRSE (10 September 1816 – 7 July 1896) was a Scottish submarine communications cable pioneer and politician.
Early life
He was born in the Vale of Leven, Scotland, the son of James Pender and his wife, Marion Ma ...
also had an interest and
Charles Tilston Bright
Sir Charles Tilston Bright (8 June 1832 – 3 May 1888) was a British electrical engineer who oversaw the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858, for which work he was knighted.
Life
Born on 8 June 1832 in Wanstead, Essex, B ...
was the chief engineer. The company's initial objective was to connect Britain with Ireland following the success of the
Submarine Telegraph Company
The Submarine Telegraph Company was a British company which laid and operated submarine telegraph cables.
Jacob and John Watkins Brett formed the English Channel Submarine Telegraph Company to lay the first cable across the English Channel. An un ...
in connecting England with France with the first ocean cable to be put in service. The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company was formed in 1857
[Hills, p. 294, citing Barty-King, p. 11, says the date was 1856.] in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
through a merger of the English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the British Telegraph Company (originally known as the British Electric Telegraph Company).
The main competitor of the Magnetic was the
Electric Telegraph Company
The Electric Telegraph Company (ETC) was a British telegraph company founded in 1846 by William Fothergill Cooke and John Ricardo. It was the world's first public telegraph company. The equipment used was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, ...
, later, after a merger, the
Electric and International Telegraph Company
The Electric Telegraph Company (ETC) was a British telegraph company founded in 1846 by William Fothergill Cooke and John Ricardo. It was the world's first public telegraph company. The equipment used was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, ...
(the Electric for short) founded by
William Fothergill Cooke
Sir William Fothergill Cooke (4 May 1806 – 25 June 1879) was an English inventor. He was, with Charles Wheatstone, the co-inventor of the Cooke-Wheatstone electrical telegraph, which was patented in May 1837. Together with John Ricardo he fo ...
. By the end of the 1850s, the Electric and Magnetic companies were virtually a
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
in Britain. In 1859, the Magnetic moved its headquarters from Liverpool to
Threadneedle Street
Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, England, between Bishopsgate at its northeast end and Bank junction in the southwest. It is one of nine streets that converge at Bank. It lies in the ward of Cornhill.
History
The stree ...
in London, in recognition that they were no longer a regional company. They shared these premises with the Submarine Telegraph Company.
The company had a close relationship with the Submarine Telegraph Company who laid the first cable to France and many subsequent
submarine telegraph cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...
s to Europe. From about 1857, the Magnetic had an agreement with them that all their submarine cables were to be used only with the landlines of the Magnetic. The Magnetic also had control of the first cable to Ireland. This control of international traffic gave them a significant advantage in the domestic market.
Another company with a close relationship was the
London District Telegraph Company
The London District Telegraph Company was formed in 1859. It was renamed the London and Provincial Telegraph Company in 1867.
The management were connected with the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the firm aimed to compete with ...
(the District), formed in 1859. The District provided a cheap
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
service within London only. They shared headquarters and directors with the Magnetic. The Magnetic installed their lines and trained their staff in return for the District passing on traffic for the Magnetic outside London.
The Magnetic founded its own
press agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire ...
. It promoted its agency by offering lower rates to customers who used it than the rates for customers who wanted connections to rival agencies. In 1870, The Magnetic, along with several other telegraph companies including the Electric, were
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
under the
Telegraph Act 1868
The Telegraph Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c.110) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It paved the way for the British state to take over telegraph companies and/or their operations.
It has been effectively repealed (only s.1, provi ...
and the company
wound up
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
.
Telegraph system
![Foster magneto-electric telegraph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Foster_magneto-electric_telegraph.png)
The telegraph system of the Magnetic was somewhat different from other companies. This was largely because the Electric held the patents for the
Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph
The Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph was an early electrical telegraph system dating from the 1830s invented by English inventor William Fothergill Cooke and English scientist Charles Wheatstone. It was a form of needle telegraph, and the first te ...
. The name of the company refers to the fact that their telegraph system did not require
batteries
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
. Power for the transmissions was generated
electromagnetically. The system, invented by
William Thomas Henley
William Thomas Henley (1814–1882) was a pioneer in the manufacture of telegraph cables. He was working as a porter in Cheapside in 1830, leaving after disputes with his employer, and working at the St Katherine Docks for six years. During those ...
and George Foster in 1848, was a
needle telegraph
A needle telegraph is an electrical telegraph that uses indicating needles moved electromagnetically as its means of displaying messages. It is one of the two main types of electromagnetic telegraph, the other being the armature system, as exem ...
and came in double-needle or single-needle versions. The machine was worked by the operator pushing pedal keys. An
armature connected to the key moved two
coils through the
magnetic field
A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...
of a
permanent magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
. This generated a pulse of
current
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (stre ...
which caused a deflection of the corresponding needle at both ends of the line. The needles were magnetised and so arranged that they were held in position by the permanent magnet after deflection. The operator was able to apply a current in the reverse direction so that there were two positions that the needle could be held in. The code consisted of various combinations of successive needle deflections to the left or right.
In later years, the Magnetic used other telegraph systems. After the takeover of the British Telegraph Company, the Magnetic acquired the rights to the needle telegraph instrument of that company's founder,
Henry Highton
Henry Highton (1816–1874) was an English schoolmaster and clergyman, Principal of Cheltenham College, known also as a scientific and theological writer.
Life
He was born at Leicester, the eldest son of Henry Highton. He spent five years at Rugb ...
. This instrument was the cheapest of any of the instruments produced at the time, but like all needle telegraphs, was slower than audible systems due to the operator having to continually look up at the instrument while transcribing the message. Some companies moved to needle instruments with endstops making two different sounds when the needle struck them (an innovation of
Cooke and Wheatstone in 1845) to solve this problem. The Magnetic instead used an 1854 invention of
Charles Tilston Bright
Sir Charles Tilston Bright (8 June 1832 – 3 May 1888) was a British electrical engineer who oversaw the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858, for which work he was knighted.
Life
Born on 8 June 1832 in Wanstead, Essex, B ...
on its more busy lines. This was the acoustic telegraph (not to be confused with the
acoustic telegraphy
Acoustic telegraphy (also known as harmonic telegraphy) was a name for various methods of multiplexing (transmitting more than one) telegraph messages simultaneously over a single telegraph wire by using different audio frequencies or channels for ...
method of
multiplexing
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
) known as Bright's bells. In this system, two bells placed either side of the operator are rung with a hammer made to strike the bell by a
solenoid
upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid
upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines
A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whose ...
driven by a
relay
A relay
Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts
An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off
A relay is an electrically operated switch ...
. They are so arranged that the right and left bells are struck according to whether a positive or negative pulse of current is received on the telegraph line. Such bells make a much louder sound than the clicking of a needle.
The Magnetic found a method of overcoming the problem of
dispersion
Dispersion may refer to:
Economics and finance
*Dispersion (finance), a measure for the statistical distribution of portfolio returns
*Price dispersion, a variation in prices across sellers of the same item
*Wage dispersion, the amount of variatio ...
on long submarine telegraph cables. The poorly understood phenomenon at that time was called retardation because different parts of a telegraph
pulse
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
travels at different speeds on the cable. Part of the pulse appears to be 'retarded', arriving later than the rest at the destination. This 'smearing out' of the pulse
interferes with neighbouring pulses making the transmission unintelligible unless messages are sent at a much slower speed. The Magnetic found that if they generated pulses of opposite polarity to the main pulse and slightly delayed from it, the retarded signal was sufficiently cancelled to make the line usable at normal operator speeds. This system was developed theoretically by
William Thomson and demonstrated to work by
Fleeming Jenkin
Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin FRS FRSE LLD (; 25 March 1833 – 12 June 1885) was Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, remarkable for his versatility. Known to the world as the inventor of the cable car or telphera ...
.
The Magnetic played a part in solving the dispersion problem on the
transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
of the
Atlantic Telegraph Company
The Atlantic Telegraph Company was a company formed on 6 November 1856 to undertake and exploit a commercial telegraph cable across the Atlantic ocean, the first such telecommunications link.
History
Cyrus Field, American businessman and finan ...
. Magnetic were strongly connected with this project; Bright promoted it and shares were sold largely to Magnetic
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
s, including Pender. Dispersion on the 1858 Atlantic cable had been so severe that it was almost unusable: it was destroyed by misguided attempts to solve the problem using high
voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...
. For the 1866 cable, it was planned to use the Magnetic's opposite polarity pulse method, but doubts were expressed over whether it would work over such a great distance. Magnetic connected together various of their British underground cables to provide a total line length of over for
proof of principle
Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has prac ...
testing. Dispersion was not eliminated from submarine cables until
loading coil
A loading coil or load coil is an inductor that is inserted into an electronic circuit to increase its inductance. The term originated in the 19th century for inductors used to prevent signal distortion in long-distance telegraph transmission c ...
s started to be used on them from 1906 onwards.
Telegraph network
First connection to Ireland
The company's first objective, in 1852, was to provide the first telegraph service between Great Britain and Ireland by means of a submarine cable between
Portpatrick
Portpatrick is a village and civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in breadth, covering .
History ...
in Scotland and
Donaghadee
Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...
in Ireland. The cable core was
gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex derived from the tree, particularly from ' ...
insulated copper wire made by the
Gutta Percha Company
The Gutta Percha Company was an English company formed in 1845 to make a variety of products from the recently introduced natural rubber gutta-percha. Unlike other natural rubbers, this material was thermoplastic allowing it to be easily mou ...
. This was
armoured with iron wires by
R. S. Newall and Company at their works in
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. Before this could be achieved, two other companies attempted to be the first to make the connection across the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
.
Despite having the contract to lay the Magnetic company's cable, Newall also secretly constructed another cable at their
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
works with the intention of being first to get a telegraph connection to Ireland. This Newall cable was only lightly armoured with an open 'bird-cage' structure of the iron wires, there was no cushioning layer between the core and the armour, and the insulation was not properly tested before laying because of the great hurry to get the job done before Magnetic was ready. This cable was laid from
Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
in Wales to
Howth
Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...
, near Dublin with
William Henry Woodhouse as engineer, and thence to Dublin via underground cable along the railway line. Laying of the submarine cable was completed on 1 June 1852 by the
City of Dublin Steam Packet Company
The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company was a shipping line established in 1823. It served cross-channel routes between Britain and Ireland for over a century. For 70 of those years it transported the mail. It was 'wound-up' by a select commit ...
's chartered
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
''Britannia'' of 1825, usually used as a cattle ship, and with assistance from the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
with HMS ''Prospero''.
[Haigh, p. 36, describes ''Britannia'' as a 254 ton barque with an added steam engine, built in 1827 at Yarmouth; no source to support this has been found.] However, the cable failed a few days later and was never put into service.
[Huurdeman, p. 129, credits the laying of this cable to the Magnetic Company.]
In July of the same year, the Electric Telegraph Company of Ireland tried using an insulated cable inside a
hemp rope
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
on the Portpatrick to Donaghadee route. This construction proved problematic because it floated (the Submarine Telegraph Company's Dover to Calais cable in 1850 was also lightweight, having no protection at all other than the insulation, but they had taken the precaution of adding periodic lead weights to sink the cable). It was laid from a
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Reliance'', assisted by tugs. The strong sea currents in the Irish Sea, much deeper than the English Channel, dragged the cable into a large bow and there was consequently insufficient length to land it. The attempt was abandoned.
For their cable, Magnetic were more careful in testing the insulation of batches of cable than Newall. Coils of cable were hung over the side of the dock and left to soak before testing. They used a new type of battery for
insulation testing that was capable of being used at sea. Previously, the test batteries had been lined wooden cases with liquid
electrolyte
An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon dis ...
(
Daniell cell
The Daniell cell is a type of electrochemical cell invented in 1836 by John Frederic Daniell, a British chemist and meteorologist, and consists of a copper pot filled with a copper (II) sulfate solution, in which is immersed an unglazed earthenw ...
s). The new battery comprised a moulded gutta-percha case filled with sand saturated with electrolyte, making it virtually unspillable. It was known as the "sand battery". 144
cells
Cell most often refers to:
* Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life
Cell may also refer to:
Locations
* Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...
were used in series (around ). Several suspect portions of insulation were removed and repaired, by opening up the iron wire armouring with
Spanish windlasses. Newall attempted to lay the Sunderland-made cable, again using the chartered steamer ''Britannia'', in the autumn of 1852. The cable was too taut as she sailed from Portpatrick, resulting in the test instruments being dragged into the sea. Several delays caused by broken iron wires as the cable was laid, resulted in the ship drifting off course and running out of cable and this attempt too was abandoned.
Magnetic were successful with a new cable in 1853 over the same route, with Newall this time using the chartered Newcastle
collier ''William Hutt''. This was a six-core cable and heavier than the 1852 cable, weighing seven
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
s per mile. At over down, it was the deepest cable laid to that date. Repairs to the cable in 1861 required 128 splices. Tests on pieces of retrieved cable found that the copper wire used was very impure, containing less than 50% copper, despite the Gutta Percha Company specifying 85%.
Land network
The Magnetic's network was centred on northern England, Scotland, and Ireland, with its headquarters in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Like most other telegraph companies, it ran its major telegraph
trunk line
In telecommunications, trunking is a technology for providing network access to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies, instead of providing individual circuits or channels for each clie ...
s along railways in its home area. One of their first lines was ten unarmoured wires buried in the space between two railway tracks of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...
. The Magnetic developed an extensive underground cable network from 1851 onwards. This was in contrast to other companies who used wires suspended between
telegraph pole
A utility pole is a column or post typically made out of wood used to support overhead power lines and various other public utilities, such as electrical cable, fiber optic cable, and related equipment such as transformers and street lights. It c ...
s, or in built up areas, from rooftop to rooftop. Partly, the Magnetic buried cables for better protection from the elements. However, a more pressing reason was that many railway companies had exclusive agreements with the Electric, which shut out the Magnetic. Further, the British Telegraph Company, had exclusive rights for overhead lines on public roads, and the
United Kingdom Telegraph Company
In the nineteenth century, the United Kingdom had the world's first commercial telegraph company. British telegraphy dominated international telecommunications well into the twentieth. Telegraphy is the sending of textual messages by human ope ...
had exclusive rights along canals. The Magnetic had a particular problem in reaching London. Their solution was to run buried cables along major roads. Ten wires were installed in this way along the route
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
–
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
–
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
–
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
–
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
.
Wires on poles do not need to be electrically insulated (although they may have a protective coating). This is not so with underground lines. These must be insulated from the ground and from each other. The insulation must also be waterproof. Good insulating materials were not available in the early days of telegraphy, but after
William Montgomerie
William Montgomerie (1797–1856) was a Scottish military doctor with the East India Company, and later head of the medical department at Singapore. He is best known for promoting the use of gutta-percha in Europe. This material was an import ...
sent samples of gutta-percha to Europe in 1843, the Gutta Percha Company started making gutta-percha insulated electrical cable from 1848 onwards. Gutta-percha is a natural rubber that is
thermoplastic
A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling.
Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...
, so is good for continuous processes like cable making. Synthetic thermoplastic insulating material was not available until the invention of
polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...
in the 1930s, and it was not used for submarine cables until the 1940s. On cooling, gutta-percha is hard, durable, and waterproof, making it suitable for underground (and later submarine) cables. This was the cable chosen by the Magnetic for its underground lines.
In Ireland too, the Magnetic developed an extensive network of underground cables. In 1851, in anticipation of the submarine cable connection being laid to Donaghadee, the Magnetic laid an underground cable to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Once the submarine link was in place, Dublin could be connected to London via Manchester and Liverpool. In the west of Ireland, by 1855 they had laid cables that stretched down the entire length of the island on the route
Portrush
Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway station as well as most hote ...
–
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
–
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
–
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
–
Tralee
Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...
–
Cape Clear. The relationship of the Magnetic with Irish railway companies was the exact opposite of that in Britain. The Magnetic obtained exclusive agreements with many railways, including in 1858 with the
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irela ...
. In Ireland, it was the Electric's turn to be forced on to the roads and canals.
In 1856, the Magnetic discovered that the insulation of cables laid in dry soil was deteriorating. This was due to the
essential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...
s in the gutta-percha evaporating, leaving just a porous, woody residue. Bright tried to overcome this by reinjecting the oils, but with limited success. This problem was the main driver for acquiring the unprofitable British Telegraph Company—so that the Magnetic inherited their overhead cable rights. From this point, the Magnetic avoided laying new underground cables except where it was essential to do so.
Atlantic cable
Brett started the fundraising for the
Atlantic Telegraph Company
The Atlantic Telegraph Company was a company formed on 6 November 1856 to undertake and exploit a commercial telegraph cable across the Atlantic ocean, the first such telecommunications link.
History
Cyrus Field, American businessman and finan ...
's project to build the
transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
at the Magnetic's Liverpool headquarters in November 1856. Brett was one of the founders of this company and the Magnetic's shareholders were inclined to invest because they expected that the transatlantic traffic would mean more business for the Magnetic's Irish lines. This was because the landing point for the cable was in Ireland and traffic would therefore have to pass through the Magnetic's lines.
Social issues
The Magnetic was an early advocate of employing women as
telegraph operators. They were paid according to the speed with which they could send messages, up to the maximum of ten
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s per week when 10
wpm
Words per minute, commonly abbreviated wpm (sometimes uppercased WPM), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving.
Alphanumeric entry
Since words ...
was achieved. It was a popular job with unmarried women who otherwise had few good options.
[Beauchamp, p. 77]
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Ash, Stewart, "The development of submarine cables", ch. 1 in, Burnett, Douglas R.; Beckman, Robert; Davenport, Tara M., ''Submarine Cables: The Handbook of Law and Policy'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2014 .
* Barty-King, Hugh, ''Girdle Round the Earth: The Story of Cable and Wireless and Its Predecessors to Mark the Group's Jubilee, 1929–1979'', London: Heinemann, 1979 , .
*
Bowers, Brian, ''Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS: 1802-1875'', Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2001 .
* Beauchamp, Ken, ''History of Telegraphy'', Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2001 .
*
Bright, Charles Tilston''Submarine Telegraphs'' London: Crosby Lockwood, 1898 .
* Bright, Edward Brailsford; Bright, Charles, ''The Life Story of the Late Sir Charles Tilston Bright, Civil Engineer'', Cambridge University Press, 2012 (first published 1898).
* Cookson, Gillian, ''A Victorian Scientist and Engineer: Fleeming Jenkin and the Birth of Electrical Engineering'', Ashgate, 2000 .
* Hagen, John B., ''Radio-Frequency Electronics'', Cambridge University Press, 2009 .
* Haigh, Kenneth Richardson, ''Cableships and Submarine Cables'', Adlard Coles, 1968 .
* Hills, Jill, ''The Struggle for Control of Global Communication'',University of Illinois Press, 2002 .
* Hunt, Bruce J., ''The Maxwellians'', Cornell University Press, 2005 .
* Huurdeman, Anton A., ''The Worldwide History of Telecommunications'', Wiley, 2003 .
* Kieve, Jeffrey L., ''The Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History'', David and Charles, 1973 .
* Mercer, David, ''The Telephone: The Life Story of a Technology'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 .
*
Morse, Samuel"Examination of the Telegraphic Apparatus and the Processes in Telegraphy" in,
Blake, William Phipps (ed), ''Reports of the United States Commissioners to the Paris Universal Exposition, 1867'', vol. 4, US Government Printing Office, 1870 .
* Newell, E.L.
"Loading coils for ocean cables" ''Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Part I: Communication and Electronics'', vol. 76, iss. 4, pp. 478–482, September 1957.
* Roberts, Steven
distantwriting.co.uk,
**ch. 5, "Competitors and allies"
1 July 2016.
*
Shaffner, Taliaferro Preston''The Telegraph Manual'' Pudney & Russell, 1859.
* Shaffner, Taliaferro Preston
"Magneto-electric battery" ''Shaffner's Telegraph Companion'', vol. 2, pp. 162–167, 1855 . See also, ''Catalogue of the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at the South Kensington Museum''
p. 301 1876.
*
Smith, Willoughby''The Rise and Extension of Submarine Telegraphy'' London: J.S. Virtue & Co., 1891 .
* Wheen, Andrew
''Dot-Dash to Dot.Com: How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph to the Internet'' Springer, 2011 .
"The progress of the telegraph: part VII" ''Nature'', vol. 12, pp. 110–113, 10 June 1875.
External links
Henley's magneto electric double needle telegraph, 1848–1852at the
Science Museum, London
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded ...
.
{{Telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom
Defunct telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom
Telecommunications companies established in 1857
British companies disestablished in 1870
Telegraph companies of the United Kingdom
1857 establishments in the United Kingdom
British companies established in 1857
Technology companies disestablished in 1870
Telecommunications companies disestablished in the 19th century