New South Wales - Colonial period: 1858-1900.
Lines in the North East region.

The North East region of New South Wales is defined in this site as being bounded by the region east of the first telegraphic line to Queensland and down to the Sydney-Parramatta line.

The map of the region below shows the main telegraph lines opened to about the mid-1880s. Details of the telegraph offices in this region are included elsewhere.

    This map leads to
the First line in Queensland.
This map leads to
the South West region of Queensland.
This map leads to the Central North region of NSW.
This map leads to the Central West region in NSW.
  This map leads to the South East region of NSW. This map leads to
the NSW Northern line to Queensland.

 

 

1. The line to Maitland.

2. The general strategy in this region.

3. Lines west from Grafton to Tenterfield.

3.1: Yamba (Clarence Heads).

3.2: Line to Lismore and Murwillumbah.

4. Line from Grafton to Glen Innes.

5. Lines from Port Macquarie to Armidale

5.1: Branch line to Walcha.

6. Coast lines north from Morpeth/Maitland to Port Macquarie.

6.1: Forster.

6.2: Taree.

7. Line from Raymond Terrace to the Port Stephens Lighthouse.

8. Within Newcastle.

The line to Maitland.

Prior to the construction of the Northern line to Queensland in 1861, the basis of the NSW telegraph route was established to Maitland.

On 21 February 1859 the Department of Lands and Public Works advertised in the Government Gazette (p.423) for:

"tenders for the supply of material (wire excepted) and for the workmanship necessary for the erection of a line of Electric Telegraph from a point on or near the Blacktown Road to Windsor and thence to Wiseman's Ferry, Wollombi, West Maitland, Maitland and Newcastle ... the Government supplying the telegraph and binding wire in Sydney". 

This contract, and another advertised simultaneously for the line to Bathurst, "had to be completed, and the works handed over to the Government within six months from the notification of the acceptance of the Tender, time being considered of the essence of the contract".

Telegraph offices were established at Wollombi and Morpeth in 1860 as part of the need to connect to Newcastle in the same year - see the construction of the Northern line to Queensland. At that time, Morpeth was an important river port for the export of coal and timber.

2. The general strategy in this region.

The general approach for line construction in this north-east section of NSW was explained by Mr. Cracknell and reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 15 July 1868 - see also below:

"The people at the Manning River (Taree) have been agitating for some time past for an extension of a line from Newcastle along the coast to the Manning River ... Mr. Cracknell reported against extending a line from Newcastle along the coast for the following reasons:
  1. The difficulties of working a coast line, even in the finest weather, from defective insulation caused by the deposition of moisture from sea fogs and vapour drifted inland from the coast. So bad is this in some cases, that not a degree of current is left to work the line.
  2. To reach Port Macquarie along the coast, the line would be much longer than from Armidale and would not take in West Kempsey and the Macleay RiverKempsey. as is now intended. The best way to connect the Manning RiverTaree. will be by separate line from Morpeth via Dungog, Stroud and Gloucester."

3. Lines to the west - from Grafton to Tenterfield.

After the Northern line to Queensland had been completed in November 1861, a new line from Tenterfield to Grafton on the coast near the Clarence River was constructed. Grafton had been established in 1851 and was the centre for a timber industry exporting to a variety of markets.

In the Legislative Council on 11 October 1860, the question was asked

"was it the intention of the Government to establish a branch telegraph from Tenterfield via Tabulam to Grafton and the Clarence Heads - the said branch being established from the main line from Sydney to Brisbane.

Mr. Arnold said the Government had already invited tenders for the construction of the telegraph to Tenterfield and thence on to the boundary of Queensland, should the latter colony erect a line to meet it at that point. There was no intention at present to propose any extension of the line to Clarence RiverGrafton., though the honorable member would find by the Estimates that the Government had not overlooked the importance of the district".

In the Legislative Assembly on 16 December 1861, £8,400 was placed on the loan account for the Tenterfield - Grafton telegraph line to bring the Clarence River district into communication with Sydney.

Soon after construction commenced, there was a diversion.

"A new payable gold-field has been discovered at Gerard's Gully, which is about 30 miles from Tenterfield and five miles west of Fairfield. The discovery was made by the men engaged in clearing the trees for the new telegraph line from Tenterfield to Grafton. They had been prospecting the country after their usual working hours and found this place. We hear, from a party who witnessed the operation, that 3 dwts to the dish has been obtained.

As a proof that the field is likely to be a good one, all those who were engaged on the telegraph line have settled themselves on the spot and, although two or three days only have elapsed since the discovery, a number of tents have already been erected on the spot, which is within a few yards of the dray road from Tenterfield to Grafton. A few others in the immediate neighbourhood, who were engaged in agricultural pursuits, have joined the gold-digging party and it is stated that a general rush from the Tableland diggings is taking place. Mr Commissioner Emmott has already visited the spot but we have not heard what steps he had taken. It is evident that a payable gold field has been discovered".
(Tenterfield Chronicle 18 September 1862).

The telegraph line to Grafton showed other progress and problems:

The newspapers carried A WARNING about notices of the penalties incurred by inflicting damage to the wires with the preamble "As the Electric Telegraph will be in working order order in the course of a few weeks, we would particularly direct the attention of the public to the very stringent clauses of the Act, and the penalties consequent on the willful cutting or obstructing the working of the line".

"On Tuesday last (16th), the telegraphic line to Grafton was completed and brought into use. The new extension connects with the Northern line at Tenterfield. At present there is no intermediate station between Grafton and Tenterfield but one will probably be opened at Tabulam" (20 December 1862, Sydney Morning Herald).

On 7 April 1863, the Sydney Morning Herald reprinted a report from the Clarence and Richmond Examiner related to the telegraph line around Tabulam:

"Mr. Smithers, the telegraph inspector from Grafton is now busily engaged superintending the re-erection of the telegraph line, the posts of which are up on either side of the riverPresumably the upper reaches of the Clarence River which passes south through Tambulam before heading south-east to Grafton after splitting from the Mann River., and the course has been altered. The length of the poles is thirty six feet -six feet in the ground - and securely braced with struts twelve feet long and seven inches thick. The posts on this side at the edge of the river are fifty-eight feet long, one foot in diameter and twelve feet in the ground. The work is of a far more durable nature and is being carried out by the contractor, Mr. Styles, in a most satisfactory manner. He has succeeded in getting the main wire across the River and, should the weather remain fine, will complete his work by about the end of March".

By 1874, problems in operation were surfacing (as they do): "Great annoyance is felt and dissatisfaction expressed at Grafton at having to repeat telegrams from Tenterfield. A second wire is wanted badly".

 

3.1: Yamba (Clarence River Heads).

In the Legislative Assembly of 6 August 1863, Mr.Laycock asked "Do the Government intend to erect a telegraphic wire from Grafton to the Clarence River HeadsYamba.?" Mr Arnold replied "it was not the intention of Government to erect a telegraphic wire from Grafton to the Clarence River Heads". This statement was repeated in the Assembly on 22 July 1867. Time can however change many things - in March 1869, £2,500 was placed on the Estimates for the construction of a line from Grafton to Clarence River Heads. Construction began in August 1869.

The Clarence Examiner of 1 March 1870 reported on the opening:

"As we mentioned in our issue of the 15th ultimo, the telegraph line from Grafton to the Clarence Heads, had been completed, and only awaited the necessary inspection and the arrival of the requisite instruments in order to open the line for the transmission of messages. By the Agnes Irving, which arrived on Thursday last, Mr Cracknell, who was a passenger, lost no time in at once setting the line in working order, leaving Grafton on Friday morning. The first message was transmitted from Rocky Mouth the same afternoon; and in the evening a message was received by Mr. A. Hunter, telegraph station master, from Mr. Cracknell, from the Clarence Heads. The line, we understand, is now open to Rocky Mouth, Mr. McNaughton having received the appointment of Station and Postmaster at Maclean. The line through to the Heads will not be open for a few days, as we understand the instrument at the Clarence Heads is to be worked by Miss Freeburn, the pilot's daughter, who will require some instruction in the working of the instrument, before being fully competent to transmit and receive messages".

The Maitland Mercury on 7 January 1871 together with other newspapers ran the notice:
"We have been requested to state that the electric telegraph line from Grafton to the Clarence Heads, is not a guaranteed line; but is supported solely and maintained out of the general revenue of the colony".

 

3.2: Lines to Lismore and Murwillumbah.

In the Assembly of 22 July 1867, the Secretary of Public Works indicated that "the Government would favourably consider any application from the inhabitants of the Richmond RiverThe Richmond River flows through Casino and Woodburn on the way to Ballina. for the extension of the telegraph to that district on the guarantee principle".

The residents of the Lismore-Ballina area were very vocal about their needs. The Maitland Mercury of 7 July 1870 noted the following argument of the economics of the area:

"In a memorial to the Postmaster General from the inhabitants of the Richmond River, seeking an extension of the electric telegraph to Ballina at the Heads, they give, among other grounds in support of the application, the following statement of the trade and traffic of the port.

During 1869, 174 coastwise vessels entered this port, the tonnage of which was 12,238; also from foreign ports, 44 vessels, the tonnage amounting to 5,070 — making collectively 218 vessels, the tonnage of which was 17,308.

The before-mentioned 218 vessels, besides importing the whole of the breadstuffs, groceries, wearing apparel, etc., etc., required by a population of about 3,000, left this port with cargoes of timber amounting, as near as can be calculated, to about eight and half millions of feet, one hundred and twenty thousand bushels of maize, thirty-six thousand staves and spokes, besides farm and station produce".

Two notices in the Gazette are relevant:

The branch from Tambulam on the line east from Tenterfield had been extended to Casino in February 1871. It was continued to Lismore then to Murwillumbah in 1874 to meet additional lines from Brisbane via Southport. In the Clarence and Richmond Examiner of 17 November 1874 came the important announcement:

"TELEGRAPH LINE FROM CASINO TO BALLINA.

This new line of telegraph is at last completed, so far as the erection is concerned, but a few weeks will elapse ere the offices at Lismore and Ballina will be open for the transaction of business.
Rumours are current as to the appointment of Station Masters for the new offices but so far they cannot be relied upon - none having as yet been made".

The line to Ballina was a branch line from Lismore which "passes through a dense scrub and will be a continual source of annoyance, the line breaking after anything like a high wind". Telegraph offices were opened at Lismore on 1 February 1875 and at Murwillumbah (Kynnumboon until 15 April 1882) on 1 November 1875. Ballina also was connected to the telegraph in March 1875.

The Sydney Morning Herald of 6 January 1876 noted that the telegraph line was now opened "from the Queensland border to the Tweed - at present in a very out-of-the-way place but will be more central when our own line is connected with it". "The tender of Mr. George Pidding for the construction of a line of telegraphs from Kynnumboon to the Tweed River Heads, at the rate of £41 16s. per mile has been accepted. For that portion of the line upon which the wire has only to be erected on the existing poles, the offer of £11 19s. per mile has been accepted" (Gazette March 1881).

 

4. Line to the West - from Grafton to Glen Innes.

The Gazette of 7 July 1876 announced:

"CANCELLATION OF CONTRACT.

Peter Murray and Bernard Devlin, contractors for the erection and due completion of a telegraph line from Glen Innes to Grafton, having failed to complete their contract in accordance with the specification and general conditions for the due construction of the said line of electric telegraph, it is hereby notified that the aforesaid contract has been cancelled".

A telegraph cable was laid across the Clarence River at Grafton in early 1877 to, connect that city with Sydney for the second line via Glen Innes. 

 

5: Line to the west from the coast - from Port Macquarie.

Perhaps the main extension was that from Port Macquarie via West Kempsey to Armidale. There was some strong reaction from members of the community as to the suitability of this route. Some advocated for a route "from Port Stephens to Port Macquarie via the Manning (Taree), this latter:

Port Macquarie and Kempsey have no business connection with Armidale, but a great many with the Manning and vice-versa".

These issues relate to the strategy outlined above. Full details of a Letter to the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald on 8 June 1868 and of the reply are found elsewhere. {Pity political discussion is now so protected}.

So began a bubbling argument with the people from the Manning which lasted for years.

At the end of March 1869, the line was within 30 miles of Armidale. On 28 June 1869, the Macleay Herald published the following details:

Believing that our readers would be interested by having a few particulars respecting the telegraph line placed before them, we have pleasure in making the following remarks.

The whole length of the line, from Port Macquarie to the  office in Armidale, is 125 miles and 17 chains. It measures 28 miles from Port Macquarie to Kempsey.

It was commenced by Mr. Edmondson, the contractor, about the 16th of August in last year, and finished about the 16th of May, 1869. The line crosses the main line of road in several places, and at others diverges a considerable distance from it. In carrying the line up Jogla Hill — a distance of four miles — great difficulty was experienced, but the greatest task of all was the sinking of the post-holes from Woolimombie to Mr. Hargreaves' station — the holes having to be blasted out of bluestone. By 13th March, the line had reached the Table Land in New England and passed over the River Styx range.

Two masts have to be erected at the Hastings RiverJust to the north of Port Macquarie., and one at the MacleayNear Kempsey - Maybe at Lawrence. A tender was let in April 1872 to Mr. C. F. Keam to construct a telegraph line from Grafton to Lawrence., to make the line complete. These will carry the line at a sufficient height to allow vessels to pass under it. Mr. Rutherford, who we understand is working for the Government, is erecting the masts, and expects in the course of a few days to have those at the Hastings finished.

The line entered Armidale via the Grafton Road.

Mr. Walker, the Assistant Superintendent of Telegraphs, passed through Kempsey on Wednesday last, in company with Mr. McLerie, having left Armidale the previous Friday and followed the line all the way down, for the purpose of inspecting it. Mr. Edmondson carried out his contract under the official superintendence of Mr. Scott, who was assisted by Mr. McLerie.

In a few weeks it is expected the line will be opened for communication. Mr. Walker, the Superintendent of  Telegraphs, has visited  Port Macquarie and taken a house in Clarence Street, belonging to Mr. Cavenah, as an office. The instruments have arrived and will be shortly set up. It is understood that a gentleman from Yass has received the appointment of operator. Mr Cracknell (of the Telegraph Department) was scheduled to arrive to inspect the line in late May.

As soon as the line to Armidale was completed, the extension to Narrabri via Gunnedah was started and very rapid progress was made. The line actually left the main Northern line at Tamworth - possibly because of easier construction topology..

The line came from Port Macquarie north to Gladstone (not Kempsey) and then west to Armidale. In the Legislative Assembly of 18 March 1874, £1,800 was placed on the Estimates for the construction of a telegraph line from Kempsey via Gladstone to Macleay River Heads (South-West Rocks). Tenders for this construction were called in May 1874. Later the line at Gladstone branched and extended north to Coffs Harbour and Grafton. Hence an additional line was planned to extend the telegraph line across the Wilson River to Kempsey. For reasons not now known, this work was delayed. The point at which the telegraph line terminated became known as Telegraph Point. A post office was opened there in 1872 but it never had a Telegraph Office (pity for those poor people). Instead, the Keogh family opened a rest house and a public house.

On 16 April 1870, the Manning River News published an account of a repair to the line from Port Macquarie to Armidale - and it stirred old tensions:

THE TELEGRAPH LINE FROM KEMPSEY.

The line is now in working order, says the Independent.

The party from Port Macquarie who repaired the line as far as Nulla Nulla met the man who was sent from Armidale to repair the New England end. From all we can learn, it was in a frightful state, the men having to cut their way through vines and underwood before they could approach the line. We have reason to believe that, from the nature of the country over which the line is carried, it will be a constant source of expense to the country to keep it in repair and that the communication is liable at any moment to be interrupted by timber being blown upon the wires. In most places the underwood has grown up nearly level with the wires. In another year, the saplings will be receiving the benefits of electricity.

The man who repaired the Armidale end was for three days without tasting food, and he states that he must have perished if he had not fallen in with the Kempsey mailman, Mr. James Dunbar, who enacted the part of the Good Samaritan by ministering to his wants. He also states that previous to this, he applied to a settler, resident in the neighborhood, who refused to either sell or give him a mouthful of food. This, if true, (and we have no reason to doubt its truth) is a disgrace to the man who could act in such an inhuman manner. We believe, if this man had died from want of food, the person who refused to sell him any would be liable to a criminal prosecution.

We believe this line has been a most egregious blunder from its commencement to its close. It ought to have been brought from Port Stephens by way of the Manning; the distance would be shorter, the country clear and level, while the amount of revenue derived from it would be tenfold. It would also be doing something like justice to an important district like the Manning. Any person who knows anything of the statistics of telegraphic communication must be well aware that it is from shipping interest that the principal revenue is derived. We are very much mistaken if, before ten years, the present line is not abandoned and a line made where it ought to have been in the first instance".

The Gazette of 30 May 1874 called for tenders "from persons desirous of contracting for the erection of a line of electric telegraph from Kempsey to Macleay River HeadsSouth-West Rocks. via Gladstone, an estimated distance of 30 miles, to be completed in six weeks at the rate of not less than 5 miles per week".

In 1921, the usefulness of the line inland from the coast to provide an alternative route was demonstrated. The Maitland Daily of 16 May 1921 reported "Advice was received at the West Maitland Telegraph Office this morning that a large land-slide had occurred a few miles past Taree, taking the telegraph line with it. As a result, it was impossible to communicate with any places beyond Taree. In order to reach Kempsey and other towns, it was necessary to send the messages through Armidale. Communication was restored later in the day".

4.1: Branch line to Walcha.

In the Legislative Assembly of 18 March 1869, £1,575 was placed on the Estimates for the construction of a line to Walcha - which was guaranteed. The branch to Walcha would come from the main Northern line. The Armidale Express of 25 July 1868 had reported:

"A public meeting was held at the court house on Thursday, the 16th, relative to the establishment of a Telegraph Station at Walcha. when it was moved by Mr. Buckland and seconded by Mr. Fenwick, that Mr. Nivison take the chair, which was carried unanimously.

He commenced the business by causing a letter to be read which he had received from the General Post Office, informing him that the distance from Bendemeer to Walcha is about thirty miles and that the cost of the line would be about £1,500. Five per cent, on the cost of construction and a sufficient sum to cover the salary of a Station Master, say £150 per annum, will require to be guaranteed — that is, if the receipts at Walcha for telegrams do not amount to £150 and five per cent on the cost of construction, the deficiency to be made up by those who sign the bond. The total cost would be £225 per annum or £37 10s for each of the guarantees.

There were several gentlemen present willing to enter into the guarantee provided those in the district, or about twenty of them, would pay an equal share in the event of the Government calling upon them to pay any deficiency that might arise. All that attended the meeting fully concurred in this matter and allowed their names to be put down as guarantees to the six gentlemen whose names will be submitted for the approval of the Government.

The meeting assumed more of a conversational one than otherwise and it was ultimately decided that letters should he written to several parties in the district who were not present to ascertain if they would agree with the movement in question and that another meeting should he held on Thursday the 6th August to decide the matter whether a Telegraph Station is to be established at Walcha or not".

The Telegraph Office opened at Walcha on 11 January 1877. In 1878, The Clarence and Richmond Examiner listed a 24 mile line from Uralla to Walcha as having been constructed in the previous year.

 

6: Coast lines north from Morpeth/Maitland to Port Macquarie.

An early suggestion about lines in this area was related to a line from Morpeth to Raymond Terrace (just east of Morpeth) and situated on the Hunter River:

"Sir In reference to my letter of the 26th ultimo, on the subject of your communication representing the desirability of establishing a branch line of electric telegraph from Morpeth to Raymond Terrace, I am directed by the Secretary for Public Works to inform you that, under a report in this matter which has been received from the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs, the Government will place on the Estimates a sum sufficient for the extension in question on the usual terms in such cases, viz., a guarantee from those interested that the line shall pay its working expenses and five per cent interest upon the outlay.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
John Rae.

The above letter has been received by Mr. Shaw from the authorities, which virtually amounts to a refusal. It is extremely improbable that the business at the Terrace would pay the costs of working as we have heard that the Morpeth station fails to do very much more.

Under any circumstances, something must be done to advise the inhabitants of the sudden rise in the river, by erecting semaphores or ordinary flagstaffs with Marryat's code of signals. The river rises with great rapidity there, and the inhabitants every flood time have been in a state of the most distressing uncertainty as to the state of things up the country. The hill at Mr. Eales' can be distinctly seen from the Terrace, and a semaphore erected there - worked in the day by four wooden travellers and at night by the same number of lamps, in accordance with the artillery signals - would be sufficient for the present, and might be erected at a very trifling expense".
(Maitland Mercury, 23 August 1864).

Raymond Terrace was therefore in an excellent location from which to branch east to Port Stephens Lighthouse and also north along the coast - possibly to the Manning River (Taree) and the Hastings River (Port Macquarie). A Telegraph line was constructed from Morpeth to Raymond Terrace where a Telegraph Office opened on 16 April 1868.

The second part of Cracknell's strategy - outlined above - was that the lower part of the North East region could be accessed by constructing telegraph lines from Morpeth to Dungog then to the coast. That strategy was essentially followed - especially after the acceptance of the line from Morpeth to Raymond Terrace. In March 1869, the Legislative Assembly approved the expenditure of £1,750 for the extension of the telegraph line from Maitland to the Manning River (Taree) - accompanied by a guarantee from the residents. It appears that the line was constructed:

In the Gazette of 29 August 1873, tenders were called "for the erection of a line of telegraph from Morpeth to Port Macquarie, via Dungog and Taree, a distance of 120 miles, to be completed in six months, at the rate of not less than five miles per week". This tender was readvertised in December 1873. In February 1874, the tender for the line from Morpeth to Port Macquarie via Dungog was let to William Corneille.

On 23 April 1874, the Maitland Mercury reported on a very late meeting at Stroud requesting that the line to Taree be constructed through Stroud and Bulahdelah rather than through Gloucester which was "in very rough country without inhabitants".

 

6.1: Forster.

On 8 July 1881, the Government Gazette advertised (at length):

CONSTRUCTION OF TELEGRAPH LINE — BUNGWALLNear Bulledellah north of the Myall Lakes.
Renamed Bungwahl in 1896. TO FORSTER.

Tenders will be received at this Office up to noon on Wednesday, the 3rd day of August, 1881, from persons desirous of contracting for the erection of a Telegraph Line from Bungwall to Forster, an estimated distance of about twenty-four miles, according to the terms, general conditions, and specification appended hereto. Number 8 extra best galvanized wire to be used, and the work to be completed and handed over to the Government within two months from the date of signing the bond. Tenders must state the price per mile completed, including all material, and a separate price must also be quoted for the wire to be erected on existing poles where required ...

Specification.

Posts.
May be heavy rough saplings with the bark removed, to be provided of the best hardwood procurable in the neighbourhood—white gum, apple-tree, oak and all inferior timber not allowed To be approved of by the inspecting officers and to be not less than ten (10) inches in diameter at a distance of five (5) feet from the base and five (5) inches at the top of twenty-eight (28) feet lengths;
the base to be slightly charred over a space of six (6) feet and well coated with a boiling mixture of best Stockholm tar, the top to be firmly bound at one (1) inch from its extremity with good galvanized hoop-iron not less than one (1) inch wide; a hole of proper size to receive the insulating pin to be bored vertically into the centre of the top of the post to the depth of five (5) inches, and the top of each post to be covered with a thick coating of white lead.

Insulators to be of well baked and highly glazed porcelain of an uniform pattern fitted with screws - samples of which can be seen on application at the office of the Superintendent, of Electric Telegraphs; insulating pins, according to pattern, turned with a thread to fit insulators, to be of well-seasoned hardwood and to be submitted for the approval of the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs before being worked up and prepared by soaking in a boiling mixture of equal parts of gum shellac, resin and Venice turpentine, and to be firmly fixed at the tops of the posts.

The conducting wire to be of extra best galvanized wire to be so stretched that the deflection shall not exceed two (2) feet in any length of wire between any two poles, and to be securely fastened to the insulators with annealed charcoal galvanized wire, No. 15 gauge. The metallic connections or joinings or the main wire to be made in the best manner and according to directions which will be given by the inspecting officers.

The posts to be not more than seventy (70) yards apart, or twenty-five (25) to a mile, unless by special permission. They must be fixed in the ground to a depth of five (5) feet, and firmly wedged and embedded in a perpendicular position.
An additional price per post to be given for such posts as may require to be provided with struts, planed and champered, to be set up through towns and villages, and painted with three coats of white or black paint, as may be directed by the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs, or other authorized officer.
An extra price should be quoted for struts, which must be ten (10) inches in diameter and eight (8) feet above the ground, notched into the poles and firmly nailed.

Cleaning.

Special attention is directed to this portion of the work. All timber, underwood and scrub must be cut down for a distance of forty (40) feet on each side of the line in addition to which, all trees and branches beyond this limit, which, in the opinion of the inspecting officer, may endanger or be likely to endanger the wire are to be removed; the fallen timber will be allowed to remain on the line, except on private property, but twenty (20) feet must be thoroughly cleared and removed around each pole.
All roads and tracks which may become blocked by fallen trees, must be thoroughly cleared by the removal of the timber to the original width of such roadway or track.
All staking or marking out of the line, that may be necessary in the judgment of the inspecting officers, to be performed for its proper direction, must be done by the Contractors at their own cost, under the direction of the Inspecting Officers.

Brackets, angle-insulators, cross-arms, and terminals, according to the patterns approved by the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs or other authorized officer, are to be provided where required. All materials used in the construction of this work, or any part of it, are to be of the best quality and must be approved of, together with the workmanship, by the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs or other authorized officer, before it leaves Sydney.

The wire may be of any brand, but must test up to the Postal Telegraph Standard of Great Britain, and in every respect equal to Johnson's extra best, and must be inspected in bulk by an Officer of the Department before being sent on to the work.

F. B. SUTTOR.

The telegraph line to Bulahdelah had opened on 21 March 1877. It is probable that this telegraph line branched from the line to Dungog soon after leaving Raymond Terrace.

On 5 January 1878, The Clarence and Richmond Examiner listed a 58 mile line from Dungog to Seal Rocks (due east of Bulahdelah) as having been constructed in the previous year.

 

On 31 March 1882, the Manning and Hastings Advocate reported on a public meeting with Mr. J. H. Young who commented at one time that "There was the telegraph line to Forster. No doubt it was highly necessary that Forster—a locality he could not speak too highly of — should be connected by Telegraph with the Manning and Sydney".

On 14 April 1882, the Manning and Hastings Advocate noted the following:

"With regard to the Forster line, a writer in your contemporary is of opinion the contractor should have painted the telegraph posts in the vicinity of the township. A very good idea. It would no doubt set the town off wonderfully, and possibly prevent the Times' Cor. from coming in contact with the said posts on a dark night; but then on the other hand, perhaps the painting was not included in the contract and, such being the case, it is not to be presumed the contractor was going to any further expense than was absolutely necessary to complete the work. If the writer is so uneasy on the subject, it might not be amiss for him to commence operations on his own responsibility. It is not likely the Government would interfere with such a necessary improvement being carried out free of cost to the Department. It would certainly establish a precedent; all other towns in the colony would undoubtedly follow suit. What a harvest it would be to the oil and colour men".

See elsewhere for the lack of an operator at Forster.

Even Federation does not seem to have allayed the anxiety of residents at Forster with their constant problems with the telegraph line. On 7 March 1903, the Manning River Times printed a letter from a reader (which is beautifully typical of the time):

"Forster.
FROM A CORRESPONDENT.
March 2, 1903

Can you inform us, Mr. Editor, why we are so neglected in this district by Mr Drake, the Postmaster-General? For the last six months our telegraph line has been continually out of repair, sometimes for a period of five days and at other times for two or three days, before the line has been fixed. When the Post and Telegraph Department was under the control of the State, the Postmasters could send out and have the line repaired as soon as possible, but now we have to wait until the line repairer can come from Dungog— a distance of about eighty miles. The public are put to great inconvenience in having to get their telegrams conveyed once a day by mail to Tuncurry, or wait the convenience of the ferryman. Much dissatisfaction is expressed by the businessmen in and around the district.

Our worthy Postmaster (Mr. Aldrich) has been laid up for the past fortnight with a very bad hand which in some manner became poisoned. Under the care of Dr. Gormley, we hear that Mr. Aldrich is improving rapidly.

We have been having some very good showers of rain lately, which make everything look green and fresh.

The health of the district is fairly good, with the exception of one or two slight colds. I understand that Mr Schlaadt is practicing the school children for a concert to be given shortly".

The line seems to have been under continual repair for another 10 years.

 

6.2: Taree (the Manning).

On 31 July 1869, the Manning River and Hastings Advocate addressed the the general issue of telegraphic communication, the nature of guarantees and the line to Taree. Interesting reading!!

"It is at such times as these that the Telegraph becomes most valuable. No flood stops its progress; no storm can lull its voice. In the darkness of the night, it inscribes its message as faithfully as though the mid-day sun watched its 'doings' and wherever the Telegraphic click is heard, ignorance upon some particular topic fades away.

But we must hurry on. Conceding that telegraphic communication with the metropolis has now become highly desirable, if not absolutely necessary, the next question is, how came it to pass that the Manning has been left unprovided with this convenience? If we could spare the space we should have a good deal to say in admiration of the sagacity displayed in an arrangement by means of which Port Macquarie is connected with Sydney by way of Kempsey and Armidale! We have heard more than one version of the origin of this arrangement and of the reasoning that led to a step which no reasoning can justify but we content ourselves now by remarking that the evidence can leave no doubt whatever in the mind of any man who will take the trouble to examine it, that the Manning was not overlooked in this arrangement - but it was purposely shunned - shunned that we might be punished for our political sins.

It is impossible, however, to enter upon this branch of the subject today — nor would it be profitable since the line alluded to having already been constructed, we could not change its direction if we would. The only course now open is to construct another — to connect at Port Stephens and not at Raymond Terrace or Maitland, as was suggested by our representative when last addressing us on the subject; for we do not believe one word of what was advanced relative to the difficulty of working a line near the sea coast. If a little dampness will interfere with the working of a protected wire, how are messages transmitted through cables which lie at the bottom of the sea?

But it seems that in the present state of legislation on the subject, we must connect at Raymond Terrace, or not at all; and we must do this at our own expense — that is to say, we must guarantee interest upon the investment. To this arrangement, there are several objections:

  • in the first place, we don't exactly see why Stroud and Gloucester should be allowed to escape without paying their share of the expense of a line which will benefit them as much as it does us ; and

  • in the second place, we cannot understand why the Manning is not quite as much entitled to a line without guarantee as fifty other places in the colony which have never been insulted by any such proposition.

It has not been usual in granting ordinary mail facilities to any district to enquire whether that particular line will pay; nor do we believe that the people will recognize a rule as applicable to telegraphic which is repudiated in reference to all other modes of communication. We had as well be asked to guarantee interest on what it costs to provide a clerk of Petty Sessions, or to build a court house or a lock-up in the district.

What do we pay taxes for but that the means of providing these conveniences may be supplied! What has the Government ever done for the Manning in return for the hundreds of thousands of pounds we have paid into the Treasury, that it should stand haggling about the interest upon a telegraphic investment? We dare say the post offices will next be withdrawn, and possibly the police too, COADY and all, unless we guarantee their salaries! The one may be insisted upon with quite as much propriety as the other".

The Manning River Times of 8 February 1871 reported on "a public meeting held at the Court House, Taree on that day to further consider the means to be adopted for procuring Telegraphic Communication with the Manning. The meeting was not so well attended as was expected for several reasons. Some persons could not conveniently attend, others were unavoidably absent from home and some forgot the day of meeting. Mr. H. J. Mayor, occupied the chair.

Those gentlemen who were present were unanimous in their opinion that a line of Telegraph was required and ought to be established with as little delay as possible, — but it was considered an act of justice on the part of the Government to require the guarantors of the Manning to be responsible for the amount required to be guaranteed on the expenses of the whole line from Maitland to the Manning while other districts would receive equal advantages from the line as the residents of the Manning would do.

It is the opinion of not a few, that the Government made a grand mistake in the first instance in constructing the line from New England to Port Macquarie, especially, if economy was an object. Why did they not construct a line from Maitland through Dungog or Stroud, taking in perhaps Clarence Town and so through three townships on the Manning, and thence to Port Macquarie, the Macleay, &c.

When persons well acquainted with the line of road from Taree to Port Macquarie find Government officials adducing the 'rugged undulated country' as a reason for not erecting a telegraphic line that way, they must smile at the ignorance that suggests such nonsense as a reason and wish that those officials were better instructed for their duties. The surveyed line of road from Taree to Port Macquarie is about 57 or 58 miles and perhaps it would be a hard matter to find on the whole a more level road extending the same distance, and it only requires a person to travel from Port Macquarie to Maitland once, to know that the country between the latter place and the Manning is by far more uneven than the road from the Manning to Port Macquarie, and the distance in one case is nearly double that in the other.

It was agreed that the Member for the Hastings, who has already shown prompt attention to the matter, should be again communicated with in order that the whole facts of the case should be explained and the wants of the Manning supplied and that, at the same time, justice should be done to those who are willing to take upon themselves to guarantee a reasonable sum as the share of the residents of the Manning in order to carry out this object.

We very much regret that the meeting was called at a time when most persons were so exceedingly busy in striving to make what reparations they could to their late losses from rain and floods that they could not conveniently attend".

On 23 August 1873, a twist came to the fore in the planning. The Manning River News reported:

"We are informed that several gentlemen residing at Taree, Cundletown and Ghinni Ghinni, have offered to become responsible for the interest upon the cost of constructing a telegraphic line from Port Macquarie to the Manning, but not from the Hunter to this district. It is a matter of doubt whether the Government has power to construct one end of the line without constructing the other also and every body knows that the appropriation as it stands upon the statute book is "for the purpose of connecting Maitland with Port Macquarie". We are at present strongly inclined to the opinion that the line will be treated as a whole, but it is possible that we may be mistaken in this. Should our supposition prove to be correct, the next question is: will the Government forego the guarantee so far as it relates to that portion of the work which is to be performed on this side of the river? That it should do so, there can be no doubt, but whether it will take this view of the matter remains involved in some degree of uncertainty. We must only wait patiently until we see what we shall see.

In the meantime we shall hold ourselves quite prepared to congratulate the people of Taree upon the possession of a telegraphic office".

A similar view had been discussed at a public meeting in February 1871.

The Maitland Mercury of 6 August 1874 reported "The telegraph line contractor (Mr. W. Corneille) arrived at Tinonee from Gloucester, on Wednesday last, and inspected several parts of the river bank, with a view of ascertaining the most suitable spot to run the wire across the river to Taree. Mr. E. W. Tunks, Government Line Inspector, also accompanied Mr Corneille from Gloucester. A public meeting will be held at the Town Hall, Tinonee, on Wednesday next at three o'clock p.m. to consider the advisability of petitioning Government to erect a telegraph office in the township". The News of 17 October 1874, under the heading Manning River, reported "Mr. Corneille, Telegraph Line Contractor, has engaged 20 labourers in Sydney, with the object of completing the work as speedily as possible. The men are expected to arrive at the camp via Raymond Terrace on Monday next".

The Grafton Argus reported on 15 January 1875 that "The extension of the telegraph line to Taree, Manning River (Ed. from Raymond Terrace), was opened on Thursday (14th). Six hundred persons were present in town. A dinner was given to the Superintendent of Telegraphs, Mr. Cracknell. Mr. Henry Flett was in the chair. Great excitement prevailed on the occasion".

Another reference - on 22 May 1875 headed Manning River - noted "The telegraph line to the heads has not yet been commenced but I hear it will begin shortly". Yeah - right!!
The article finished with "Weather delightful; corn pulling general; health of district good; measles nearly run out".

 

7: Raymond Terrace to Nelson Bay and the Port Stephens Lighthouse.

As noted elsewhere, The Empire of 13 April 1867 wrote an editorial about Government receipts and expenditures. After criticising the extension from Deniliquin to Hay, the article continues:

"But there are still no lines of communication with the coast at those points from which intelligence of the deepest interest in times of tempestuous weather might be most easily transmitted. Port Stephens - the only harbour of refuge between Sydney and Moreton Bay, a coast line of about four hundred and fifty miles - is still without the means of electric communication with any other place whatever. For this port, which is only about seventy-five miles from Sydney heads, all vessels make when southerly or easterly gales catch them too near the shore and many an occasion has been witnessed when the deep anxiety of friends or the natural fears of merchants, shipowners or insurers might have been set at rest if they had had the means of communicating with Port Stephens.

If the Maitland wire were extended to Raymond Terrace, the distance thence to the head of Salamander Bay - the principal anchorage in Port Stephens - would be about twenty miles. From that place, information could be at once despatched to Sydney or to the northern ports by way of the trunk wire running north and south. It would be desirable, however, to continue the line along the south shore of the port to the lighthouse on Point Stephens. From this position, vessels could be seen within a range of many miles. Considering the great dangers that beset vessels in Newcastle Bight, and the probability of strangers running into what is called False Bay, on the south side of Point Stephens when, with a southerly or easterly gale they must inevitably be lost, it seems almost beyond belief that the establishment of electric communication in this direction should be so long neglected.

We know that another gale has visited the coast within the last three days; that a dismasted and disabled ship was seen endeavouring to make this port; that three of her Majesty's steamships of war were lying here at the time, and made no effort to succour the distressed vessel. Though humanity demanded some exertion, however the strict routine of duty may not have made it imperative. We know also that this ship in distress was subsequently seen off the Bight of Newcastle, apparently endeavouring to make Port Stephens but, as was thought, too near to the land to be safe. We know that no more has been heard of her and there is no means of hearing at present. In the same gale, a line barque called the King of Italy, bound for Newcastle, had great difficulty in making that port. If she had been compelled to bear up for Port Stephens, we should be in the same state of ignorance as to her fate as we are with regard to that of the dismasted ship".

It was not just people around Newcastle and some in Sydney who were concerned for the maritime safety at Port Stephens. The Queensland of 20 April 1867

"In connection with the enquiries concerning the dismasted ship seen off the coast, the expediency of extending our telegraph line to Port Stephens is again forced under notice. We are here in electric communication with Port Denison on one hand and Adelaide on the other and yet have no such communication with Port Stephens, which is only seventy-five miles from Sydney and is the only secure port of refuge at present between Sydney and Moreton Bay. In stormy weather when vessels bound from one port to the other are long absent, relatives, shippers, insurers and others interested, naturally feel most intense anxiety as to whether such vessels have found shelter in Port Stephens - or not. But to appeals on this subject from the press, the Government of this colony has hitherto turned a deaf ear. It is a matter in which Queensland is much interested for a line to the head of Port Stephens, connected with the nearest point of the existing telegraph line running north and south, would enable Queensland as well as this colony to be apprised at any time what vessels were in the port and might relieve much anxiety. I don't know much about the etiquette of the matter but, in these days of Federal Conferences, I cannot see that there would be much harm and there certainly might be much benefit, in your Government addressing ours on the subject and endeavoring to give a fillip to our works department".

On 4 July 1867, in the Legislative Assembly, the Government promised to place £1,700 on the 1868 estimates for the construction of a telegraph line from Morpeth to Port Stephens. This was an important line because, since 1862, a lighthouse had operated at Port StephensThe light house was built in 1862 on Shark Island at the eastern end of the southern shore - past Nelson Bay and opposite Fingal Bay. to guide coastal shipping. That allocation on the Estimates needed to be confirmed and, on 16 April 1868, the Legislative Assembly placed £1,750 on the Estimates for the construction of the telegraph line from Morpeth via Raymond Terrace to Port Stephens (to connect the lighthouse and harbour of refuge). Raymond Terrace was a good locality because it allowed the line to cross only the Hunter River and not also the Williams River to the north. By February 1868, the telegraph wire was within half a mile of the Port Stephens lighthouse. On 28 January 1869, the Legislative Assembly voted £450 for additions to the Port Stephens line. In March an additional £350 was approved for the Port Stephens to Nelson Bay telegraph. The connection between these two grants is not clear - given that Nelson Bay is passed on the way to the Lighthouse.

The Port Stephens Lighthouse had been connected to the telegraph network before 11 March 1870.

Even though the telegraph line had been erected, many vessels were badly damaged or wrecked in their attempts to reach Port Stephens during the gales which swept the coast.

The Newcastle Chronicle of 22 March 1870 reported that "On Sunday morning (20th), Newcastle was suddenly and unexpectedly visited with a terrific southerly gale of wind, such, indeed, as has not been experienced here since the Cawarra was wrecked. It indeed amounted to a hurricane and it is to be feared we shall hear of sad shipping calamities in a few days hence ... At seven o'clock last evening, we learned at the Telegraph Office that the line to Port Stephens was washed down, consequently we could not get a telegram from that station as to whether or not any vessels have taken shelter there during the gale".

 

8. Within Newcastle.

On 28 January 1869, the Legislative Assembly voted to place on the Estimates:

Usage.

In an unusual reporting inclusion, the Annual Report for 1868 gave the number of messages transmitted in that year by Telegraph Offices. The largest number of messages transmitted was from Sydney (42,279) while the smallest number was from Port Stephens (27). Others in the north east region were:

Newcastle 6,417
West Maitland 3,658
East Maitland 572
Morpeth 754
Singleton 1,848
Raymond Terrace 222
Muswellbrook 932
Scone 377
Murrurundi 726