New South Wales - Colonial years: 1857-1900.
The administration of Telegraphs.

Early Legislation

In discussion of the Railway Bill in September 1849, the Legislative Council for NSW approved clause 57 which read "obligation to permit a line of electrical telegraphs to be laid down by her Majesty's government". Nothing more is known of that approval.

The precursor of decisive Legislation for the Electric Telegraph was probably the statement by Henry Parkes on 22 June 1855 to the Legislative Council moving:
"That an Address be presented to the Governor-General, praying that his Excellency will be pleased to cause to be laid upon the table of this House, copies of any correspondence that may have taken place or a statement of any steps that may have been taken by the Government with reference to the introduction into the colony of the electric telegraph".

 

There were three distinct periods of administration of the Telegraphs in New South Wales:

  1. 1857 to 1867: Public Works was the supervising authority of the Electric Telegraph Department;
  2. 1867 to 1876: two Departments - the Postal Department and the Telegraph Department operated in parallel;
  3. 1876 to 1900: the New South Wales Post Office was the supervising authority - at first at a distance but, in the early 1890s, with a greater direct authority;
  4. 1901 - 1916: the Postmaster-Generals' Department with responsibility delegate to the NSW Post and Telegraph Department.

 

1. Public Works.

The Electric Telegraph Department was established as part of the Department of Public Works in 1855. The Under-Secretary of Public Works - Captain B. H. Martindale R.E. - was also appointed as the first Superintendent of Telegraphs. At that time, he was also Under-Secretary for Public Works, Commissioner for Main Roads and Commissioner for Railways. It was his 1858 Report which initiated construction activity of the first telegraph lines in New South Wales.

At about the same time as the telegraph lines were being planned and constructed, railway lines were beginning to be laid throughout the N.S.W. Colony. The first railway line in NSW ran from Sydney to Parramatta commencing in 1855. The first telegraph line - to Liverpool - then followed the railway line. Such a procedure was common in other Colonies as well. For example, after constructing the first lines from Melbourne to Sandhurst (Bendigo) and to Ballarat via Geelong, Samuel McGowan later moved those lines to within the railway fences. He did the same with the line from Melbourne via Semour and Benalla to Wodonga and thence to Albury.

Telegraph offices therefore began to be established at railway stations. Later, in 1859, a NSW Government statement outlined, in part, the nature of some of these joint arrangements:

"On the railway lines, an arrangement has been made that so far as the (telegraph) line extends along the railways, accommodation shall be provided for the telegraph clerks on the railway stations and all messages for the department on railway business shall be sent free. The telegraph department however will take all receipts for public telegrams sent by railway wire".

Staffing was at times a confused issue. Telegraphers, for example, were employed by the Department of Electric Telegraphs but they were accommodated on railway property and also had to act in the capacity of railway employees. There was also confusion as to whether Telegraph Offices were separate from Post Offices. Often they were built close together or even shared the same premises but with two officers in charge. The issue was raised in the Legislative Assembly on 5 October 1859 as follows:

Mr. Clements asked the Secretary for Lands whether it is intention of the Government to take the necessary step for the erection of Post Offices with Telegraph Offices attached, at Bathurst, Maitland, Goulburn and Albury respectively and, if so, when such buildings are to be commenced.

Mr. Robertson replied that the Government contemplated uniting the office of Postmaster with that of Telegraphic Station Master and, in the event of this arrangement being carried out, the buildings would in future, be constructed with a view to providing accommodation for both departments.

The major force in the pre-Federation period on NSW telegraphy was Edward Charles Cracknell. He was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Telegraphs in South Australia in January 1856 (under Charles Todd), then Deputy (or Assistant) Superintendent of Telegraphs from January 1858 before becoming Superintendent of Telegraphs on 15 February 1861 on Martindale's forced retirement and return to England.

The decision to establish the Electric Telegraph was a profitable one - at least in the early years. The details of the first four years of use are as follows:

Unfortunately the lure of personal financial gain cast a shadow over the new Department in 1862. As reported by the South Australian Register on 7 July 1862:

"Defalcation at the Telegraph Department. We regret to have to report that an extensive defalcation has been discovered in the Sydney office of the Electric Telegraph Department; the accountant, Mr. Daniel Dunstan, having absconded with moneys belonging to the Government to the extent of nearly £1,000.

On Thursday morning last, Dunstan left the office, informing Mr. Cracknell that he would be back in a few minutes. An hour having elapsed without any signs of his return, Mr. Cracknell went to Dunstan's table and examined some of the papers lying there. Suspecting from the appearance of these that there was something wrong, Mr. Cracknell immediately proceeded to the Minister for Works, who returned with him to the Telegraph Office.

Upon a further examination of the accountant's papers by Mr. Arnold and Mr. Cracknell and on an inspection of the cash safe, which they found to be empty, it was evident that a large sum of money had been embezzled. The amount was subsequently ascertained to have been upwards of £1,000. Information of the robbery was at once forwarded to the Secretary and to the Inspector-General of Police - Captain McLerie being absent from Sydney — but although the detective officers were put upon the absconder's track within two hours of his leaving the telegraph office, they have not yet succeeded in apprehending him.

Dunstan had been about two years connected with the telegraph Department, and was receiving a salary of £300 per annum. His being entrusted with the money-order deposits and with the transmission of the salaries to the subordinate officers, accounts for his being enabled to become possessed of, and to make away with, so large a sum of money.

Before coming to this colony, Dunstan was residing for some time in Hobart Town where he married the daughter of Mr. Driscoll, the Manager of the Colonial Banking Company, obtaining with her a considerable fortune, which he rapidly squandered. We understand that a legal firm in Sydney served a writ upon him soon after his arrival in Sydney and that Captain Martindale was cautioned against employing him on account of his having been previously implicated in a transaction of a similar character to that now brought to light.

The alarm having been raised so soon after the absconding of the defaulter has prevented his leaving Sydney by water; and there are reasons for believing that he is still in the city, in which case he will probably soon be arrested and brought to justice. Together with Dunstan, his younger brother, who had recently arrived in the colony has also disappeared. Pending an investigation into the affair, Mr. Philip C. Walker, Assistant Superintendent of Telegraphs, has been suspended

:.

In the Assembly of 25 January 1866, given the dire financial situation of the Colony, massive across-the-board cuts were made to finances (the original Razor Gang). In the Electric Telegraph Department, the following was tabled:

"The reductions proposed in this branch, as recommended by Mr. Walker, are as follows:

reduction of £30 in each of the salaries of the line inspectors at the following stations Goulburn, Yass, Gundagai, Bathurst, Young, Wagga Wagga, Mudgee, Singleton, Armidale, and Tenterfield, in all £300 ;

office of line inspector, Wollongong, abolished, £150 ;

salary of station master, Wollongong, who will perform the inspector's duty, with a forage allowance, reduced £20;

increases to salaries proposed on estimates for 1866 now struck off - Sydney, 3 at £35-£75 ; Tenterfield, £46; Newcastle, £25; Maitland, £25; Albury, £46 and £25 - £242 ;

salaries of station masters, Singleton and Bendemeer, reduced, the former £50, and the latter £46 - £96 ;

proposed junior operator and messengers, Maitland. £104; Queanbeyan, £52, Orange, £52 - £208;

Stations, : Murray River line, £175; working expenses, etc, £950;

In all, £2141".

In the Maitland Advertiser, 8 June 1867 (and other outlets):

"It is gratifying to know that the Electric Telegraph Department of the Colony pays good interest for capital and, without meaning to detract from any government department, it is due to the Chief in Telegraphy of New South Wales to record the fact that it occupies the position of being the best regulated office under the Government. We have less complaints against it than any other office. Not only is this compliment due to Mr. Cracknell, the general Superintendent of Telegraphs but we believe, as a rule, it may be extended to all employed under him. The colony is fortunate in having an officer of Mr. Cracknell's acknowledged ability. Theoretically and practically he is undoubtedly better acquainted with the mysterious agent, which he so well knows how to direct, than any electrician in the Southern Hemisphere. We grieve to see by the estimates that this excellent officer is so poorly remunerated - his pay being little better than that of the Police Magistrate of Deniliquin".

 

2. The two Departments.

The Gazette announced that, from 1 July 1867, the Electric Telegraph Department (so far as Telegraph Lines are completed and are in actual operation) and the Money Order Office, in addition to the business of the Post Office, shall be placed under the Ministerial control of the Postmaster General.

On 25 September 1869, the Government decided upon the amalgamation of Post and Telegraph Offices. Hence, in the early 1870s, the Department of Electric Telegraphs was transferred to the Postmaster-General. As the telegraph was a service which was quite distinct from the Post Office, it was not placed under the control of the Secretary to the Postal Department. In those days, there were very few telegraph offices linked to the post-offices.

The oganisation created under the Minister was structured so as to create three separate permanent individual heads. None "owed obedience or allegiance to another" except to the Minister. In 1872, the permanent heads were:

These three were sometimes referred to as "the triumvirate" but "peace to their ashes, they served their country long and well".

Public Works was maintained as the authority until the NSW Post Office absorbed the NSW Department of Electric Telegraphs in 1876.

After that transfer, the Post Office and the Railways leased lines from one another - a situation which continued until the 1980s. This arrangement sometimes became very complicated. For example, in 1932, the railway managed 3,823 miles of wire on PMG telegraph poles while the PMG leased 2,316 miles of wire on railway poles.

As an aside, it is interesting to note the situation prevailing in New South Wales in 1878 in the context of the importance of the Telegraph Department. The South Australian Register of 27 February 1878 notes:

"in the present critical state of Europe, it would be singular if the question of defence did not occupy a considerable share of public attention. (The NSW) Parliament has voted about £82,000 for this purpose, after a somewhat protracted debate on very small points. Under the direction of Mr. Cracknell — perhaps the best scientific and practical electrician in these colonies — a torpedo corps has been organized and materials purchased for a double line of torpedo defence across the harbour, in accordance with the recommendations of Sir William Jervois. But Mr. Cracknell is also the head of our Electric Telegraph Department at a salary of £800 per annum, and a few members of the Assembly objected to make him also Commandant of the torpedo corps with an additional salary. The majority, however, decided otherwise and it is generally felt that, in case of war now so imminent, torpedoes at all our principal ports would constitute the best means of defence and that we cannot be too hasty in organizing an efficient staff for this purpose".

An 1890 Report recommended the amalgamation of the three departments - the Post Office, the Money Order Office and the Electric Telegraph Department - into the Post & Telegraph Department. E. C. Cracknell had always - and continued - to resist any move for amalgamation - for this was not the first suggestion for this course of action.

 

3. Amalgamation.

Almost immediately following the death of Mr. Cracknell in 1893, the Electric Telegraph Department was merged with the Postal Department to become the Postal & Telegraph Department. In 1904, the name of the section for telegraphs was changed to the Telegraph Branch and, in 1917, it became the Chief (Electric) Telegraph Office. The reference to "Electric" was dropped in 1926.

Examples reflecting the changes on official stationery are:

Elect Tel env
Long OHMS envelope with sender being Electric Telegraphs.
Printed before 1893.

1897 envel
Ordinary sized envelope with heading ELECTRIC ELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.
Printed during 1880s given the printed date.
Sender changed from Telegraph Station to Post & Telegraph Station.
Used at Hunter's Hill 1 April 1897 - hence using the new designation of the Department.

Other examples are other envelopes included on the page for the General Post Office/Central Telegraph Office
and on Transmission forms NC-TO-6 compared with NC-TO-7
and on Delivery forms NC-DO-8 compared with NC-DO-10.

 

Early legislation.

 

The secrecy of contents of a telegram required that there could be no disclosure of the contents of a telegram held at a Telegraph Office or Department to any other person - even to law enforcement officers or legal officers.

 

Early finances.

1 Feb 1861: The Budget debate in the Legislative Assembly (SMH): I have estimated the receipts of this year from the electric telegraph at £18,000, and I think this estimate will be amply justified by the result. I am glad to say that this is one of our profitable institutions, paying a handsome return on the outlay and which it will, no doubt, continue to pay.

The receipts from the electric telegraph up to the end of December last were as follows: In the year 1858, £9,141, in 1859, £36,867, and in 1860, £53,026. The expenditure on the telegraph during those years was: in 1859, £4,646, and in 1860, £8,380. The total expenditure on telegraphic works to the 31st December, 1860, was £48,798. The revenue, from the 1st January to the 31st December, 1860, was £12,128, which, after deducting £8,360 for working expenses left £3,718, giving a net revenue at the rate of 7.75 per cent. [An Hon. member "For the whole of the lines?"] Yes, for the whole. One line feeds another, so that you must look at the working of the telegraphic system as a whole before you can tell whether one line is profitable and another unprofitable.

Mr. Parkes: "That hardly applies to the South Head line. The South Head line was established for a peculiar purpose, more, perhaps, with a view of saving life, and whether that particular line pays or not I think, for the interests of humanity, it ought to be maintained (Hear, hear). We might get important intelligence at the dead of night, when there was no other means of getting news, by which we might save a shipload of valuable lives.

The following lines are in progress:

The total number of miles open is about 831.

The number of messages transmitted for money orders since the 1st of July 1860 was 382 and the amount received was £2,941 That is, perhaps, a satisfactory result of the use of the electric telegraph station as a money order office. It was used extensively when Kiandra was first opened as a gold field and I have no doubt that, in its further operation, it will be found extremely useful to the colony.

In the 1864 Estimates, provision was made for salaries which included inter alia: