Western Australia - Colonial period: 1861 - 1900.
Transmission form: WC-TO-3.

  
General characteristics:

Heading and notes: No form number.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WESTERN AUSTRALIA spans the central crest.
Message area: 8 lines of 5 boxes.
Reverse side: Regulations and Charges (3A) or blank (3B).
Colours (text & form): Black on cream.
Size of form overall: 171 × 216 mm.
Distinctive characteristics of this form:

Also see the rare posted form elsewhere.

 
WC-TO-3A.
Eucla to Perth.
29 July 1884.

Characteristics:

  • heading is in serif capitals;
  • date starts "188 _";
  • no annotation below LLC of form;
  • reverse side has message boxes continued to 110.
See the use of this format for correspondence to Sir John Forrest and to Governor Frederick Broome on 30 July 1884.
Reverse side of the Broome transmission form above.

WC-TO-3B.
Albany to Melbourne;
2 December 1889.

Characteristics:

  • heading is in serif capitals;
  • date starts "188 _";
  • reverse side has Regulations and Scale of Charges.
The reverse side of the above form showing the Regulations and Scale of Charges.

In reference to the note below, see Regulation # 3. As reference to the Press is not contained in that regulatsianon, it might be inferred that this form was printed after April 1884.

 

The West Australian of 15 April 1884 noted that:

"REGULATIONS under the Telegraph Act 1883, approved in Executive Council on the 31st ult., were issued on Thursday last, with what object is not clearly apparent, for the only difference between these new Regulations and those printed on the back of the Telegraph forms now in use seems to be that 'Press Telegrams containing important public information not obtainable during the Saturday night' are no longer included in the messages transmissable on Sundays which, seeing that such telegrams are never despatched on the day of rest, does not appear to be a matter of much importance".

Image recognised by Malcolm Brown of Western Australia in the records of the National Archives of Australia. 		WC-TO-3C.

Walebing to Perth
2 March 1897.

Characteristics:

  • heading is in Gothic script;
  • date starts "189 _";
  • reverse side is blank;
WC-TO-3C.

Cue to Adelaide
5 February 1899.

Characteristics:

  • heading is in Gothic script;
  • date starts "189 _";
  • reverse side is blank;

 

See elsewhere for the very rare form with this format posted from Perth to Guilford on 14 September 1898.


Details of use and rarity.

Form
sub-number		 Schedule number Earliest recorded date Rarity rating
TO-3A None 29 July 1884 at Eucla. RRRR
TO-3B None 2 December 1889 at Albany. NC
TO-3C None. 21 March 1892 at Perth. NC