Overland Telegraph

The South Australian Government played a pivotal role in the exploration and establishment of a route from South Australia to the coast of the Northern Territory. Their goal was to establish a telegraph line connecting Adelaide to the rest of the world. This monumental route was successfully established and completed by John McDouall Stuart in December 1862.

The following key event in the history of Daly Waters and the NT was the construction of the overland telegraph line (OT) commissioned by the South Australian Government. The Australian Overland Telegraph Line spans some 3200 kilometres (2000 miles) between Darwin and Adelaide. The telegraph line would comprise over 30,000 wrought iron poles, insulators, batteries, wire, and other equipment ordered from England. The poles were placed 80 m apart, and repeater stations were separated by no more than 250 km. From the date the bill was introduced (8 June 1870) to the South Australian Government's completion (22 October 1872), it took just under two and a half years. [1]

Key dates and events

8 June 1870 Port Augusta to Port Darwin Telegraph Bill introduced

16 June 1870 Bill received assent

7 July 1870 John Ross appointed to survey and plot the route from Mt Margaret

20 August 1870 Work team leaves Port Augusta by ship for Port Darwin

15 September 1870 First pole ceremoniously sunk at Port Darwin

March 1871 Rain and supply problems interrupt work on the Northern section

August 1871 Patterson arrives in Darwin to resume work on the Northern section

August 1871 Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company brings the underseas cable ashore at Port Darwin

19 November 1871 Australia now linked to the rest of the world

1 January 1872 Penalties of £ 70 apply for every day the transcontinental line is incomplete

27 January 1872 Charles Todd goes into the field to restart work from Roper River

April 1872 Weather permits works to commence

22May 1872 Todd sends first telegram across Australia from Port Darwin to a temporary station on Elsey River; then by horse to Tennant Creek; then by telegraphy to Adelaide

24 June 1972 Undersea cable between Port Darwin and Java fails

22 August 1872 Patterson joins the line near Frews Ironstone Ponds

20 October 1872 Overseas line restored; Adelaide and hence Melbourne and the eastern states are now connected to the world

22 October 1872 First commercial message received followed by congratulatory messages from the Lord Mayor of London to the Mayor of Adelaide [2]

Along the route, 11 telegraph stations were established at Adelaide (Port Augusta), Beltana, Strangways Springs, The Peake, Charlotte Waters, Alice Springs, Barrow Creek, Tennant's Creek, Powell's Creek, Daly Waters, Katherine, Yam Creek, and Darwin. Of the 11 original stations, only Barrow Creek, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs remain. [3]

Overview of the Construction in the NT

The construction work was divided into three main sections: Port Augusta to the Finke (the N.T.-S.A. border), Finke to Attack Creek, and Attack Creek to Port Darwin. Attack Creek is just over 70 km north of Tennant Creek. [3]

The Northern section proved to be the most challenging and presented untold problems. The northern section was started on 15 September when the first pole was planted in Darwin. Work initially proceeded quickly and without too many hitches. Then, the torrential rains of the wet season set in, and progress stopped. The track had been cleared for about 500 miles, poles erected for 240 miles and wired from Darwin to Yam Creek. The Government Overseer of Works considered the contract too far behind schedule and cancelled it in May 1871 (just as the wet season ended). [3]

It was decided that the Government should take control of the northern section, which still had a gap of 420 miles of line between north and South—four months of the dry season in North Australia had now been wasted. [3]

R. C. Patterson sailed from Melbourne in August 1871 with 100 men, 170 horses and 500 bullocks arriving during the build-up in Darwin. The country was burned bare, and there was no grass for horses or bullocks. There were long, waterless stages. A third of the bullocks died, and horses collapsed from the unaccustomed heat. Then suddenly, the Wet set in with a vengeance. At a camp at Red Lily Lagoon down the Roper, men were literally starving, marooned for ten weeks by floodwaters. Others were stranded at a place aptly named Providence Knoll, between Katherine and Mataranka, living on flour and water. [4]

When the wet season ended in late March, the line continued towards Daly Waters.

THE "PONY EXPRESS"

On 22 May 1972, Todd, located in Darwin, telegraphed Knuckey on the Elsey (near present-day Mataranka), who then asked a rider, Ray Parkin Boucout - to take the message to Tennant Creek for transmission to Adelaide. Hence, the first Australian transcontinental message was created. It arrived in Adelaide on 20 June 1972 - about one month after Todd had sent it.

By June 1872, Patterson's men had completed poling the line to Daly Waters—370 miles from Darwin. The end of the wire from Adelaide was at Tennant Creek. The gap was, therefore, 262 miles (420km). That gap was partly poled. It was the dry season, and lots of men were working hard.

Arrangements were made for a pony express (or estafette) to bridge the gap and carry messages between the ends of the two lines. Although the gap would impose a delay of about a week, messages could be sent from Adelaide to England. Revenue from these messages could be offset against the penalty for late completion.

At this time, John Lewis, his brother and four stockmen - with 40 horses and a buggy - were en route to Port Darwin. When they reached Barrow Creek, they received a telegram from the Government offering the estafette contract. They accepted and pushed on to Tennant Creek, where they met up with Ray Boucot and other men with horses. They then set out for Daly Waters, which they reached on 15 June. During this ride, they had agreed upon a series of camps across the gap.

On 13 June, Todd left the Elsey and arrived at Daly Waters on 22 June, where he received the news of Lord Monck's communication through the Pony Express service. He immediately sent messages back to London and learned of the company's anger. Other messages came through on 23 June.

Then, on 24 June 1872, the fantastic news reached Port Darwin that the submarine cable had broken, negating the penalties for late completion.

Messages continued to be sent over the following week, including news that the cable was still inoperative. The riders worked hard—on 1 July, Boucout rode 262 miles in 131 hours, 101 of which were spent in the saddle and 30 hours for rest.

Day by day, the distance between the two ends of the wire shortened. Each day, the rides of the "Pony Express" riders shortened until finally, on Thursday, 22 August 1872, the telegraph wires were joined a few miles east of Frew's Ironstone Ponds. (Known today as Frew's Ponds, some 90km South of Daly Waters) [5]

Impact of the Overland Telegraph Line

The telegraph's alignment was cleared of trees, and maintenance and resupply of stores for the telegraphers at the Repeater Stations meant that traffic along the route was ongoing and “The Overland track” became established. Any Travellers, Drovers, Adventurers & Overlanders crossing the continent followed the Overland Telegraph Line further adding to the development of the road. [6]

The telegraph line also opened the centre of the continent. Within a year of its construction, gold was being mined around Pine Creek (near Katherine), and within 10 years, the cattle industry had been established in the Northern Territory.

Prospectors and graziers used the repeater stations as centres from which to explore and stake claims on the land. [7]

Demise of the Overland Telegraph Line

By 1935, the Overland Telegraph Line was no longer carrying international traffic. More advanced communications technology had replaced it. During World War II, extra crossarms and wires were added so that it could serve as a telephone line. By the 1980s, this, too, had been replaced by an optic fibre and microwave link, and the remaining poles and wire had been removed. [8]

References

1. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, April 2). Australian Overland Telegraph Line. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:58, May 12, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_Overland_Telegraph_Line&oldid=1216824839

2. Overland Telegraph - Engineers Australia Portal. NOMINATION OF THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH FORAN HISTORIC ENGINEERING MARKER

AT DARWIN, ALICE SPRINGS, AND ADELAIDE. By the South Australian and Northern Territory Divisions. The Institution of Engineers, Australia

Date: 27 April 1999

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nomination-title/HRP.Overland%20Telegraph.Nomination.pdf

3. THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH

By Ron McMullen

https://www.google.com/search?q=THE+OVERLAND+TELEGRAPH+The+Telegraph+Pole+Appreciation+Society+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org+%E2%80%BA+...+PDF&oq=THE+OVERLAND+TELEGRAPH++The+Telegraph+Pole+Appreciation+Society+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org+%E2%80%BA+...+PDF&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRhA0gEJOTY5MGowajE1qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

4. The Northern Territory Overland Telegraph : an epic of courage - just 100 years ago. Pike, Glenville (1971). The Northern Territory Overland Telegraph : an epic of courage - just 100 years ago. Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland 9 (2) 95-133.

https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:207991

5. Telegramsaustralia.com. (2024). OTL - closing the last gap. [online] Available at: https://telegramsaustralia.com/Forms/Colonial/OLT/OTL%20-%20last%20gap%20closed.html [Accessed 13 May 2024].

6. CHALLENGING TERRAIN NO MATCH FOR ENGINEERING INGENUITY. (n.d.). Available at: https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nomination-title/Stuart_Highway.pdf

[Accessed 13 May 2024].

7. National Museum of Australia; address=Lawson Crescent, A.P. (n.d.). National Museum of Australia - Overland telegraph. [online] www.nma.gov.au. Available at: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/overland-telegraph

8. Staff, A.G. (2013). On this day: Overland Telegraph constructed. [online] Australian Geographic. Available at: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2013/11/on-this-day-overland-telegraph-constructed/#:~:text=By%201935%20the%20Overland%20Telegraph,serve%20as%20a%20telephone%20line.

[Accessed 13 May 2024].

Photographs

B78437

Map of the Overland Telegraph Line [B 78437] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). Map of the Overland Telegraph Line. [online]

Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+78437 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

B 78441

Telegraph Station, Port Darwin [B 78441] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). Telegraph Station, Port Darwin. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+78441 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

B 78440

Cable House, Port Darwin [B 78440] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). Cable House, Port Darwin. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+78440 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

B 4638

Darwin [B 4638] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). Darwin. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+4638 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

B 4639

Overland Telegraph construction party [B 4639] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). Map of the Overland Telegraph Line. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+78437 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

B 4641

"The Omeo", Roper River [B 4641] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). ‘The Omeo’, Roper River. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+4641 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

PH0238/0395

Overland Telegraph Camp. Available at: Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10070/737509 [accessed 13 May 2024]

nla.obj-153072248-1

Workers on the Overland Telegraph Line, Southport.

Trove. (n.d.). Survey expedition, Port Darwin, Northern Territory, approximately 1870. [online] Available at: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-153072248 [Accessed 13 May 2024].

Sweet, Samuel White. Survey expedition, Port Darwin, Northern Territory, approximately 1870 : , . Web. 13 May 2024 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-153072248>

nla.obj-153072248-6

Camp of the Overland Telegraph Line workers at Roper River

Sweet, Samuel White. Survey expedition, Port Darwin, Northern Territory, approximately 1870 : , . Web. 13 May 2024 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-153072248>

nla.obj-135926824-1

Construction of the Overland Telegraph to Port Darwin from a photograph by J.H. Nixon

Calvert, Samuel & Cousins, T. S & Nixon, J. H. 1870, Construction of the Overland Telegraph to Port Darwin from a photograph by J.H. Nixon , [Melbourne viewed 13 May 2024 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135926824

Photo number: PH0147/0034

Overland Telegraph Line steel pole

Bucknall, Graeme, 1984. Overland Telegraph Line steel pole. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10070/739061 [accessed 13 May 2024]

PRG 1365/1/133

The overland telegraph line [PRG 1365/1/133] • Photograph

State Library of South Australia. (n.d.). The overland telegraph line. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1365/1/133 [Accessed 13 May 2024].