Tasmania: 1854-1900.
Overview of telegraph line development.

The development of the telegraph network in Tasmania is perhaps more complex than in any of the other Colonies. As with all Colonies, it had the interaction of the private and the public sector and the appointment of the top private representative to the top position in the government telegraph organisation - almost an Australian tradition in the early days of the telegraph!

As a measure of the timeline, it must be noted that Tasmania was established as a self-governing colony of the British Empire in 1856 - three years after the name of the Colony was changed from Van Dieman's Land to Tasmania.

There are three types of Telegraph Office which served Tasmania and these are presented separately:

    1. Telegraph Offices on lines constructed by the Telegraph Department;
    2. Telegraph Offices on lines constructed by the private railway companies - especially the Launceston & Western Railway Company and the Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company;
    3. Telegraph Offices on lines constructed by the Tasmanian Government Railways.

Sydney Morning Herald of 19 January 1856 reported that, in the Tasmanian Legislative Council in Hobart Town, the Colonial Secretary had moved on the 8th instant, the appropriation of £3,000 for the establishment of an electric telegraph between George Town and Launceston. The motion suggested that such a line would be a great saving to the colony and be the first commencement of a connecting line between Tasmania and Australia. If the sum were voted, it would be commenced immediately. The motion was passed and, at the same time, an additional £2,000 was voted for line joining Hobart Town to Mount Lewis.

A month later, the Hobart Town Advertiser stated that Mr. William Brown, of that city, had made an offer to the Government to erect an electric telegraph from Mount Lewis to Hobart Town, thence to Launceston and George Town, and to complete the whole within nine months from signing the contract, for the sum of £16,000. The offer was under consideration at the time of publication.

Telegraph Offices were opened with increasing frequency although the distances between neighbouring offices became closer - sometimes less than 10 km apart. Although there may be good geographical reasons for such proximity in some cases, there was an over-abundance of Telegraph Offices which in turn developed a financial pressure on the Department of Telegraphs.

It is pleasing to note that many of those advocating the construction of telegraphs throughout Tasmania and the other Colonies were aware - either implicitly or explicitly - of the significant contribution made by telegraphic communication to the holding of public holidays throughout Australia. For that, we are forever in their debt!!!

A summary of the development is as follows:

Year No. of Stations Miles of wire
1871 14 291
1877 45 720
1887 119 1,773
1897 160 24,461
1900 202 28,373

 

In addition. there was the construction of cables between Tasmania and Victoria. Fuller details of these lines can be accessed elsewhere.

Lines constructed by the Department of Telegraphs.

To discuss the telegraph lines in Tasmania - in part keeping to the rationale in some other Colonies - the main line (Hobart-Launceston) is accepted as the main division. Then:

These regions are also based approximately on the terrain facilitating line construction and not on other considerations such as government boundaries, etc.

The overview of the line construction for each of the four regions is shown in the map below.

North-west region:

North-east region:

 Communication with the offshore islands.
Tas overview Line construction in Tasmania took place within reasonably distinct time periods and within regions partly determined by the difficult terrain which makes Tasmania such a special wilderness area.

Details can be obtained by using the various hyperlinks:

The First line is shown in black.

From 1885, lines constructed were joint telegraph-telephone line. This combination saved considerably on construction costs and were claimed to be equally effective to distances of about 25 miles.

The distance limitation led to the significant proliferation of Telegraph and Telephone Offices throughout the land. For this reason, comments on date stamps are generally restricted to offices opening before the mid-1880s.

South-west region:

South-east region:

  

 

Telegraph lines associated with private railways.

Complicating the situation of the telegraph in Tasmania was the role of private railway operations. These included:

  1. the Launceston & Western Railway Line;
  2. the Mersey and Deloraine Training Company. It was formed in 1864 to link Deloraine with the North West Coast using a line with a 4'6" gauge. It opened early in 1872 with only 17 miles of track. Demand for the service was far less than anticipated and the company was forced to retire its only engine after only 4 months of operation. The line was then worked by horses between Latrobe and Railton for seasonal produce traffic. In 1885, the company was absorbed into the Tasmanian Government Railways.
  3. the Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company.

The Tasmanian Government Railways.

Tas rail 1876
Source: Wikipedia 		By 1876, all railway operations came under the control of the Tasmanian Government Railways.

The network of lines is shown in the Wikipedia map at left. The two main private lines are marked.

Many of the railway stations shown also had telegraph facilities which were linked into the Post and Telegraph line both operationally and organisationally. That merging began in 1876 with the Hobart Town and Launceston Telegraph Offices being nominated as exchange stations with the Main Line Railway. Reference is made to individual stations in the context of the discussions on the five separate Department of Telegraphs lines.