Australian telegraphic history
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Australia was a relatively early adopter of
electrical telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...
technology in the middle of the nineteenth century, despite its low population densities and the difficult conditions sometimes encountered in laying lines. From 1858 onwards, the major capitals were progressively linked, culminating in the addition of
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in 1877. Australia was linked to the rest of the world for the first time in 1872, through the
Overland Telegraph The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
which ran some from Adelaide through to Darwin. The network continued to expand in size and sophistication until 1959 and in heavy usage until 1945, after which time
telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
usage began to erode public patronage of telegraphy services. The final publicly provided telegraphy service was closed in 1993.


Electric telegraphy

A telegraph is a device for transmitting and receiving messages over long distances, i.e., for
telegraphy 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 ...
, which is the long-distance transmission of textual messages where the sender uses a
semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...
system, known to the recipient. An electrical telegraph uses
electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The moving pa ...
and
magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
to convert the manual typing of codes that represent words, into electrical impulses. These impulses are transmitted over a metallic circuit (overhead wires or underground cables) to a distant location. At the distant location the impulses are converted into magnetic fields that operate a mechanical device to make a sound or to move a visual indicator. The operator at the receiving end converts these sounds or signals into a written message. The code system used throughout Australia was the
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
.


Beginnings


Victoria

Australia's first telegraph line, sponsored by the Victorian Government, was erected between Melbourne and Williamstown in 1853 and 1854 by Samuel McGowan, a recently immigrated Canadian telegrapher. The line covered a distance of and went into operation in March 1854, less than 10 years after the opening of the first public telegraph line (1 May 1844) in the world (linking Baltimore and Washington DC). 4000 telegrams were despatched in the first year (1854). When the line was extended to Geelong in December 1854, the first message transmitted to Melbourne brought news of the
Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...
. Connections to Queenscliff and Port Melbourne (January and July 1855) provided notice of ships entering the harbour and arriving at port. Connections to the gold-mining centres of Ballarat and Bendigo were both completed in December 1856. By 1857 Victoria had been extensively networked by telegraph lines, including a line reaching to Portland, near the South Australian state border. By 1867 there were of line within Victoria, handling 122,138 messages.Australian Telecoms - The beginnings
, ''caslon.com.au'', Accessed 4 March 2011


South Australia

Late 1854 the South Australian Government sought help from the Colonial Office in London to find a suitable superintendent of telegraphs. Their choice was Charles Todd, who arrived in Adelaide in November 1855. A private entrepreneur, James McGeorge, stole the day by opening a private telegraph from Adelaide to the Port on the very day of Todd's arrival in Adelaide. In 1856 the Government bought the competing line for £80 and promptly dismantled it. Todd completed the Government line from Adelaide to Semaphore in two months. He used a British technique, using an underground cable that proved disastrous. The cable soon failed due to the poor insulation of the wires available in that period. Critical to the progress of South Australia was a connection to Melbourne and in 1857 Todd made arrangements with Samuel McGowan to build a uniform system between the capitals. Both Todd and McGowan dreamt that their proposed intercolonial interconnection would one day be a key link in a chain leading to 'a step in the direction of our ultimate telegraph communications, via India, with England, a scheme vast and difficult (which)... will, we doubt not, at no very distant date be carried out'. The Adelaide to Melbourne connection was begun in April 1857 and completed in July 1858. This included a 300 km South Australian section built at that colony's expense. So heavily used was the first telegraph line to Melbourne that Todd reported to the government that a second line was needed. The second line was built via Wellington, SA and was opened in 1861.


Tasmania

A telegraph line connecting
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
and Launceston was completed in 1857. Connections were quickly built to remote areas through dense terrain from Launceston to George Town in March 1858 and easier lines from Hobart to Mt Nelson in July, and
Low Head Low Head is a rural residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of George Town Council, George Town in the Launceston LGA Region, Launceston LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about north of the town of George Town, Tasmania, G ...
in October 1858. Again, like South Australia the key to future growth in trade and commerce was a connection to the other state capitals. This required a
submarine cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water. Examples include: *Submarine communications cable *Submarine power ...
and discussions were held between the Victorian and Tasmanian Governments during 1856. At this time the technology to build an undersea cable was in its infancy and overseas experience advised caution. Tasmania and Victoria agreed to share the costs and a contract was signed February 1858. of cable at a final contract cost of £53,000 was laid and made operational on 18 August 1859. Unfortunately the cable was constantly out of service due to faults undersea and by January 1861 it was abandoned. An enduring cable link was established between
Cape Otway Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. History Cape Otway was originally inhabited by the Gadub ...
on the Victorian mid-south coast, through to
King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to: Australia * King Island (Queensland) * King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland * King Island (Tasmania) ** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...
and, ultimately, Launceston,
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
, the £70000 cost paid fully by the Tasmanian Government and it was opened in 1869. It was a great success and the cable was duplicated in 1885 and again in 1909.


New South Wales

The New South Wales Government commenced construction of the Sydney to Liverpool telegraph line, a distance of , which opened on 30 December 1857.
Edward Charles Cracknell Eddie Charles Cracknell born 10 August 2004. Eddie was born in Chester and was commonly known as a British icon for his services to the country. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Cracknell, Edward Charles 1831 births 1893 deaths People from Roches ...
was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Telegraphs in January 1858 and Superintendent in 1861. The Liverpool line was extended to
Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
on the NSW/Victorian border, a distance of , in October 1858. This line connected with a line from Melbourne thus linking the two capitals. At this time Sydney – Melbourne and Adelaide became connected by telegraph. In 1867 the first direct line linking Adelaide and Sydney was opened.


Queensland

Queensland's separation from New South Wales created a position for Superintendent of Telegraphs which was filled by W.J Cracknell, the brother of the New South Wales Superintendent. Tenders were called for a line from Brisbane to the NSW border in September 1860, completed to Ipswich in April 1861 and working to the border by November 1861. This connected to a recently completed line from Sydney. Now four state capitals were connected. Lines were pushed out from Brisbane north to Rockhampton, reached Port Denison (Bowen) in 1866, and Cardwell in June 1869. At the same time extending inland to the newly established pastoral areas. In 1855 the Electric Telegraph department handled over 50000 telegrams and messages could pass over of telegraph lines within the state. In Queensland the last Morse Code message was to
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...
via combined landline and radio link in 1964.


Western Australia

A newspaper man
Edmund Stirling Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...
proposed a scheme to connect Perth with
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
a distance of . After negotiations with the Government they finally agreed to a shared investment. Construction commenced on 9 February 1869 and was opened for service on 21 June 1869. Of great significance to the colony was the connection from Perth to Albany. Many steamer ships from England to the eastern states would call at Albany for supplies on their way to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. If messages, information and newspapers could be intercepted and transmitted quickly to Perth rather than the long horse and coach journey, a commerce advantage may be gained by Western Australia. The Albany link was completed in 1870. The last Morse code message in the west was sent between Wyndham and
Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...
in mid 1963. The following table indicates the take-up date of the new technology by the colonial state governments.


Connections to the outside world


The competition

Charles Todd and Samuel McGowan both envisaged telegraph links to England via India, and saw the creation of an inter-colonial network as being preliminary to that ambition. From 1858 the prospect of a cable being laid from Britain to Australia began to generate competition within the Australian colonies for landing rights.The Overland Telegraph
, ''Culture.gov.au'', Accessed 27 February 2011
As early as 1854 the year that Samuel McGowan installed the first line in Victoria, British entrepreneurs Brett & Carmichael builders of the Channel cable presented proposals to colonial governments to land a cable at Perth, via Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). American and British entrepreneurs alike saw Australia as vital terminal points for their expanding overseas cables. For the next sixteen years speculation and competition was rife between competing colonies. Four routes to Australia were serious contenders: *Brett's Route: Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to Perth, connecting with another submarine cable at Cocos (Keeling) Island. *
Timor Island Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...
to the northern coast of Australia near
Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an es ...
connecting to an overland line to Adelaide *
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
(
Banjoewangi Banyuwangi, previously known as Banjoewangi, is the administrative capital of Banyuwangi Regency at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 106,000 at the 2010 Census and 117,558 at the 2020 Census. The town ...
) around the Western Australia coast to Perth *Gisbourne's Route:
Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...
Queensland to Morton Bay, connecting to a submarine cable from Port Essington to Java, another cable from Java to Singapore, and a proposed overland line from Singapore to Rangoon. In 1869 the
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
colonial government established a cable across the southern intersect of Cape York peninsula in preparation for this connection. Queensland pushed hard and had a route explored from Cardwell to
Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Burketown had a population of 238 people. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton on the Albert Riv ...
in 1866, a distance of 450 miles. Queensland thought they had the overseas link in the bag with an agreement with the British Australian Telegraph Company to connect their new submarine cable from Java to
Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, in northern Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay and East Arm Wharf. In 2015, a 99-year lease was granted to the Chinese-owned ...
then overland to Burketown. Desperate for the line to instead be built to
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...
then via existing landline to Adelaide the South Australian colonial government successfully outmanoeuvred Queensland in a bid to secure connection to the overseas cable with an offer to finance the cost of a telegraph from Port Augusta to Port Darwin (at that time South Australia administered what was to become the Northern Territory). This relieved the British Australian Telegraph Company the expense of the overland line to Burketown and they changed their allegiance. At the time though the majority of the route of the line had not once been visited by Europeans and presented a huge risk, not least financially, to the South Australian government.


The Overland Telegraph

John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...
had previously been commissioned to explore the remote outback to the northern Australian coast through the desert centre, finally after several attempts the northern coast was reached on 24 July 1862. Despite fears before the expedition that vast inland seas may block a route, and although the route was extreme in environmental terms, a path was possible. A contract was let in 1870 and, following immense physical hardship and considerable logistical challenge the
Overland Telegraph The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
(the Port Augusta to Port Darwin telegraph line) was completed on 22 August 1872.Chapter 7: Communication by Post, Telephones and Telegraph, 1800-1970
, ''Australian Heritage Council'', Accessed 27 February 2011
To build the line to Darwin 36,000 poles were used to close the nearly 3,000 kilometre gap.


Submarine cables to the world

*1872 - Port Darwin: The first connection from Australia to the world by submarine cable was the above-mentioned Java to Port Darwin link. In short time the cable failed and was finally restored to service with connection again to England in October 1872, a four-month break in service. The cable had been initially brought ashore at Darwin in November 1871, with Australia's first international telecommunications message being received on 19 November. *1876 - The first Australia to New Zealand telegraph link was opened *1889 - The third international link arrived at
Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...
from Batavia (Jakarta) *1891 - Bundaberg (Queensland) linked to Gomen (New Caledonia) *1901 - A link via the
Cocos-Keeling Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...
arrived in Perth in 1901. This was part of the around the globe route known as the 'Red Route' and was traversed wholly British controlled territory *1902 - A telegraph cable across the Pacific between Canada and Australia (landing at the
Southport Cable Hut The Pacific Cable Station was built in 1902 in Southport, Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia, continuing to operate for sixty years, finally closing in 1962. While most of the site has been dismantled, the Southport Cable Hut remains and has ...
) via
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
and
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
was completed in October 1902Australia and the global telegraph network 1854-1902
, ''Museum Victoria'', Accessed 27 February 2011


East-West Telegraph

In 1874 the South and Western Australian legislatures voted the sums necessary for the construction of a
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...
(SA) to Albany (WA) line. Work began in April of the next year from Albany through country known to be practically waterless. At this time Western Australia had a population of 25,000 with total revenue from all sources being £135,000 per annum, and from that was to come the estimated £30,000 cost of the line. South Australia's commitment was also significant; it had to complete the line across the vast
Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...
. South Australia's parliament voted the funds approved on 4 November 1874, allowing the work to commence. After tenders were invited in February 1875, Walter Thompson was awarded the contract for the sections from Port Augusta to
Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...
and from there to Fowlers Bay. The third section, taking the line to Eucla, was undertaken by the Posts and Telegraph Department itself and supervised by R. R. Knuckey. The line was known as the East-West Telegraph Line, or just East-West Telegraph. On 12 January 1876 the section from Port Augusta to Port Lincoln was finished, followed by the continuation to Fowlers Bay on 26 September 1876. Fowlers Bay to Eucla link was begun in July 1876 with 38 men and 89 horses, under Knuckey. Supplies were held at Fowlers Bay and all equipment and provisions had to be obtained from here or another base set up at Eucla. The work was finally completed on 15 July 1877, meeting the line being built from the west at Eucla, a location close to the WA/SA border, after some very substantial hardships and logistical challenges had been encountered during construction. The line became operational on 8 December 1877, spanning the distance of . The telegraph operated for 50 years, then, with the introduction of electro-magnetic automatic repeaters and a more easily maintained telegraph line alongside the recently completed transcontinental railway line,WA Telegraph History
, ''oseagram'', Accessed 4 March 2011
the line closed in 1927.The East-West Telegraph 1875-1877
, ''G.P.Stevens'', Accessed 27 February 2011
The line is listed as a National Engineering Landmark by
Engineers Australia Engineers Australia (EA) is an Australian professional body and not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineering for the benefit of the community. Engineers Australia is Australia's recognized org ...
as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.


Social impact

The social impact of the arrival of the telegraph was enormous.
Marine archaeologist Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...
Dr Silvano Jung said that it caused "a national revolution that started in Darwin", by reducing the impact of Australia's geographic isolation from the rest of the world. By far the largest customers were the Government, business and the press. Before the telegraph, news and mail could take three months to reach England; the telegraph reduced this to around seven hours. As the telegraph spread, provincial and city newspapers published sections
by-line The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably ''Reader's D ...
d "by Electric Telegraph". Until the 1870s, overseas news was telegraphed from Adelaide, being the first port of call with telegraphic connection to the
eastern states The eastern states of Australia are the states and territories of Australia, states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland Australia, mainland states of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, New South Wales and Q ...
. This gave Adelaide a strategic and financial boost. Charles Todd commented: For the business community, the telegraph signalled prosperity and wealth. City and country telegraph offices became the centre of trade where orders were placed, banking transacted, market information exchanged. One important duty of the telegraph system was to keep the time of the nation. Time signals were transmitted to all telegraph stations in each colony at one o'clock each day and weather observations were likewise transmitted back to the state capitals. Science also benefited. One particular case was the use of the telegraph to determine
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
, when in 1868 Todd, with the help of the Government astronomers in NSW and Victoria, linked up the
Observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
with a temporary direct telegraph link. The transit of 15 select stars were observed and recorded on the Melbourne
Chronograph A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an independent sweep second hand and a minute sub-dial; it can be started, stopped, and returned to zero by successive ...
via the telegraph from Sydney. With further observations and recordings made near
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
, Todd was able to establish the position of the 141st degree of east longitude to give a boundary line of the border between South Australia and Victoria. Towards the close of the 19th century, Australia had become one of the largest users of the telegraph.


Federation: peak and decline

Following the
federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...
in 1901, the
Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...
was established to take over from the states all postal and telegraphic services and administer them on a national basis. The PMG Department progressively improved telegraphic equipment. In 1905, the use of Wheatstone equipment on the Adelaide and Perth routes improved speed to 220 words per minute. By 1922, the Murray Multiplex System allowed one line to be used for eight transmissions at the speed of 50 words per transmission per minute. As
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
threatened the Northern Territory in 1942, and Japanese forces moved through Java and
Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
were afraid that Japan would use the telegraph service to eavesdrop on communications with the rest of the world, so the submarine connection from Darwin to Java was cut. Telegram usage continued to climb within Australia, peaking at 35 million messages per annum in 1945. Thereafter, the telephone continuously eroded the use of telegrams, both because of the relative price of the two services and network service improvements. Additionally, from 1954, teleprinters handled more and more traffic. In 1959, an automated switching system (TRESS) further enhanced the utility of teleprinters by allowing messages that were centrally directed to be automatically retransmitted to their final destination without the need for a human operator. The last telegraph message sent exclusively by land line was sent in mid-1963, and the final message using a land line for any section of its passage was sent in 1964. By 1975 telegram usage had halved from its 1945 level. The last morse code message on the eastern seaboard was sent in early 1963. In 1993, Australia Post discontinued its letter-gram service, which consisted of postage delivery "telegrams"; that is, messages typed as a genuine telegram, and delivered in the same manner (although never transmitted over telegraph lines).


Heritage listing

In June 2020, the submarine telegraph line between Port Darwin and Java was
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
under the ''
Heritage Act 2011 The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the '' Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained ...
'' (NT), and placed on the
Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...
. This will serve to protect the cables where they come ashore, lying partly buried at Lameroo Beach in Darwin. The Fergusson River Overland Telegraph Line Pylons and
Oppenheimer Oppenheimer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: In arts and media * Alan Oppenheimer (born 1930), American film actor * Andrés Oppenheimer (born 1951), Argentine author and journalist known for his analysis of Latin American p ...
Telegraph Poles had been declared on 28 January 2012, and the Frew Ponds Overland Telegraph Line Memorial Reserve on 6 September 2006 (under previous heritage legislation).


See also

*
Australian Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
* Cape York Telegraph Line *
Eyre Telegraph Station The Eyre Telegraph Station is a building on the remote south coast of Western Australia, on the Great Australian Bight. Built in 1897 of local limestone, it is a substantial one-storey structure, with a wide timber-framed verandah and a corrug ...
*
History of Australia The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia. People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and penetrated to all parts ...
* History of the Electric Telegraph in Australia by Frank Randell Bradley (1934) * The Early History of the Telegraph Electrical Society, Melbourne by B. McMahon (1939) * History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia * Biography of Samuel Walker McGowan * Biography of William Philip Bechervaise


References


External links


Clear Across Australia: A history of telecommunications
{{telecommunications History of telecommunications in Australia History of the telegraph