PART 1
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The first working telegraph was built by the English inventor Francis Ronald in 1816.
Later, in 1837, the American, Samuel Morse patented a recording electric telegraph and he and Alfred Vale developed the system now known as Morse code. Soon, land-based telegraphic systems were in use and the possibility of submarine cables linking continents was being considered.
The first undersea cable was laid in 1850, connecting Britain and France. Within a few years, cables had been laid across the Atlantic and through the Red Sea to India.
Samuel McGowan brought telegraphy to Australia in 1853, connecting Melbourne and the Port of Williamstown. Melbourne and Adelaide were connected to Sydney by 1858 and to Tasmania by 1859.
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The Electric Telegraph Bill was passed by the NSW Parliament on 17 March, 1857, but it was not until 11 September, 1858, that a proposal was made to put in a line to the Hunter. On 21 February, 1859, a tender was let for the erection of a telegraph line "from a point upon or near the Blacktown Road to Windsor, and thence via Wiseman's Ferry, Wollombi and West Maitland to Newcastle".
Work began on 6 June, 1859, erecting poles and installing a single uninsulated wire to carry the signal. A length of insulated 'Bass Strait' cable was laid under the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry. By mid-September the wire had progressed along the Great Northern Road to within 22 miles (35 km) of Wollombi, and it reached Bishops Bridge in November, 1859.
Posts were erected along the railway line from Maitland to Newcastle and completed by mid-December, 1859. However, the opening was delayed by an accident that destroyed part of the insulation at the Hawkesbury crossing.
On 23 January, 1860, the electric telegraph was opened to the Maitland public. Maitland now had telegraphic communication with Newcastle, Morpeth, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide.
The telegraph office was originally housed in the railway station. The sending and receiving instrument was a double-needle magneto-electric telegraph, manufactured by Messrs Henley and Forster of London and patented in 1848. The instrument did not require batteries. A pulse of electric current was generated by pressing levers on either side, rotating a coil between the poles of a strong magnet. The resulting electrical pulse was transmitted along the wire to the receiving station.
Soon, all major cities in Australia were connected by cable and colonial governments began to think about connecting to the rest of the world.
On 22 August, 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line to Darwin was completed, a distance of 1988 miles (3200 km).
The completion of the submarine cable to Darwin from Java two months later had a huge psychological impact on the Australian population, as news from Britain and Europe arrived in the colonies the day it happened.
This proved to be a great advantage to the newspapers of the day, reporting 'instant' news from 'home'.
Maitland was now connected to the world.
Source: Cutty Sark - the Australian Connection by L J Henderson and Maitland Mercury
Maitland and District Historical Society