South Australia - Colonial period: 1855 - 1900.
Telegraph lines in the Glenelg - Cape Jervis - the Coorong region.

Lines to the south of Adelaide extended along the coast to Cape Jervis and then eastward to the Coorong around Lake Alexandrina. There were three main aspects:

  1. the commencement of the line - to be known as the No. 1 line - through Willunga to Victor Harbour, to the Coorong and on to Mount Gambier and Victoria.
  2. the direct line to Yankalilla.
  3. lines south from Glenelg to Cape Jervis with some branch lines to the coast;
  4. the line cross-country between Goolwa and Strathalbyn;
  5. the Mitcham, Corramandel Valley, Clarendon inland line.

 

This map continues north to the first line.

 This map continues north-east to
Mount Pleasant - Mount Barker - Mannum .		  

 

 

This map continues east to Pinnaroo and Border Town.

The line to Glenelg.

The line to Glenelg was really constructed in conjunction with the No. 1 line - with only minor extension joins required. The beautiful Telegraph Office at Glenelg opened with the arrival of Mr. Todd on 3 September 1859. At that time, the jetty had been opened for only a few months and it became a major reason for the telegraph line.

Port Adelaide had not yet been opened and the Glenelg jetty was used for cargo as well as to unload the mails from the service operated by P&O. The mails were generally off-loaded at Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island and brought to Glenelg. These deliveries were of critical importance and were closely followed in the other Colonies.

There was always a race to obtain the English mails first so that the news could be transmitted to the other colonies - through Mount Gambier having been opened in 1857.

The Register of 8 August 1859 described one of the last of these races before the Glenelg Telegraph Office opened:

"The competition between the papers in the neighbouring colonies to secure the earliest telegram occasioned a spirited struggle upon the arrival of the steamer Corio at Glenelg on Saturday morning with the English mails taken from the P. & O. steamer Bombay at Nepean Bay. Jockeys and other riders were waiting on the beach, while various modes were resorted to for handing to them the despatches with the greatest speed.

One gentleman on the Corio had arranged that the messenger should await his arrival at the pier head where he threw him his packet before anyone had landed. Meanwhile two boats' crews had boarded the Corio, and one, under Mr. Y. W. Hodges, was ashore and its despatch sent forward more than a minute before the jockey from the pier had mounted his horse. Two others followed and a desperate race ensued to the (Adelaide) telegraph office but the leading jockey maintained his advantage and accomplished the six miles in 16 minutes. They came in as follows: — The Register's horse (Powning), 1; Mr. Sinnett's horse (Jewell), 2; Advertiser's horse (Hay), 3; Mr. Chubb's horse (R. George), 4. Powning had a second horse at the Morphett Arms; a third awaited him at Baker's Halfway House but he declined dismounting. The fourth was near to the boundary of the park lands and of this he availed himself. Jewell was l½ minutes behind and nearly lost second place by his horse shying towards his stable. Mr. Hay was there almost immediately afterwards with George a little behind. Not more than 3 minutes elapsed between the arrival of the first and fourth horses. The whole of the press messages transmitted to Victoria contained 7,000 words".

To avoid the necessity for "the absurd (and to the newspapers costly) jockeying which has been in existence for the last three months" (as noted by Todd in his 1859 Report) "a branch line has been carried down to Glenelg close to the pier, at which the mail is landed. The race, if race there is to be, will therefore be confined to the short distance between the pier and the telegraph office".

Clearly the mail race was abandoned. Nevertheless the continuing importance of the mail deliveries - now using the telegram - was underlined in the note in the Argus on 8 March 1860:

"The arrival of the mail steamer at Nepean Bay (Kangaroo Island) was reported soon after the close of business this afternoon but up to midnight no telegram of the English news had been received. The usual signal to notify that the mail had arrived at Nepean Bay was hoisted at the Telegraph office but it appears that this was done on a rumour that the mail steamer had been seen in Investigator Bay".

Yankalilla and Normanville.

Soon after the completion of the line to Glenelg, a branch line was extended to Yankalilla and Normanville in the far south. This line was intended, in part, to fulfill at least two of Todd's overall objectives:

  • to facilitate the development of telegraphic lines to places to help monitor South Australia's maritime security; and
  • to support the maritime industry both for commercial reasons and for humanitarian reasons (eg shipping accidents, shipwrecks, etc).
 Normanville
A recent view over Normanville south-west to the Spencer Gulf.
Note the absence of pirate ships.

It also served to fulfill in part the objective of "opening up telegraphic communications throughout the Colony to as many people as possible in the shortest time".

It is unclear as to where this branch left the No. 1 line but it appears it would have been from Port Elliott. The connection to these two places from Port Elliott would be in keeping with Todd's aim to access Cape Jervis and thence Kangaroo Island. It would be another 16 years before Todd would decide to extend the telegraph lines to Kangaroo Island via the Yorke Peninsula.

The House of Assembly approved the expenditure for the line to Yankalilla on 7 August 1861. The Telegraph Office opened in 1862. The telegraphic connection from Adelaide to nearby Normanville was effected on 22 September 1862, The Telegraph Office at Yankalilla was transferred to Normanville in 1863. Normanville was a port from which the district's wheat and corn were exported.

In the House on 31 July 1862, "Mr. Coglin asked the Government whether compensation would be given to parties whose lands were destroyed and whose timber was used in the continuation of the line of telegraph to Yankalilla. The Commissioner of Public Works said the Government had only heard of one case of this kind where timber was being cut down. The Superintendent of Telegraphs was instructed to enquire into the matter and, according to his report, the Government would act. If timber was taken, of course compensation would be given".

Many people were puzzled by the choice of Yankalilla in the first place. For example, part of a letter to the Editor of the South Australian Register of 11 March 1862 said:

"It is rumoured generally that the station is fixed for Yankalilla and not at Normanville. This appears very strange to all, I think, who are not personally interested in the township of Yankalilla. We think it requires no argument to show that the Telegraph Office ought to be as near the coast as possible, especially in such a place as Normanville. We remember that Normanville is the outlet and inlet, not of a part but of the district at Normanville.

The Police Station, the Sub-Collector of Customs Office, the Local Court, the District Council Office, the connecting Post-Office with Finniss Vale, are at Normanville, as also are the principal corn stores. It must be known, too, that all the imports or exports must come to this point. It seems singular, indeed, that in view of all this, the office should stand at least two miles from these establishments and more so at such a moment when all watchfulness is required on the seas. For my own part, I confess I shall not believe the Government will act so blindly until I see it. It should be remembered that the main line of road to Cape Jervis touches Normanville, and that the line to Port Elliot is incomplete except it reaches to Normanville - the port of Yankalilla".

There was also a public meeting held on 4 March 1862 at Normanville. One of the most cogent reasons suggested at that meeting for having a telegraph office at Normanville (for the port) and not at Yankalilla was:

"the extreme probability that a war with America was at that moment in progress, that the inhabitants of Normanville knew not the moment when the crew of a privateer might land on their coast, rifle their homes, subject their relatives to dishonour and themselves to injury, perhaps to death. Such a catastrophe, with the station where it was at present, was not only possible but probable, for the enemy would come as a thief in the night; they were not likely to give warning of their approach. Were then, the inhabitants of the seaport (Normanville) to abandon their families to the tender mercies of pirates while they ran a distance of two miles to telegraph their deplorable condition to the metropolis?".

It must have been a relief when the Telegraph Office opened in Normanville in 1863. Indeed, in the history of The Advertiser, there is only one story which has been published of an attack on Adelaide or on the places to the south.

The Telegraph line down the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Telegraph Offices south down the coast between Glenelg and Normanville were opened partly to service the port facilities at these places. The lines to some of these were branch lines from the main No 1 line.

Noarlunga

In the House on 3 November 1865, Mr. Coulton asked the Chief Secretary if any tender had been accepted to supply poles for the line of telegraph between Noarlunga and Willunga. If so, how long a time was allowed the contractor to supply them and when would the line be ready for use? The Chief Secretary could not reply to the question immediately.

A branch telegraph line to Noarlunga was opened by Mr. Todd on 5 April 1866. To send the congratulatory messages as well as a few private telegrams, Todd used a portable battery which he had brought with him.

Aldinga

Another branch line was constructed to Aldinga from Willunga (3 miles away). The Post & Telegraph office opened on 18 December 1874.

Unfortunately, in 1888, a major incident occurred which raised questions about operational procedures:

TELEGRAPH ARRANGEMENTS AT ALDINGA.

"Some enquiry has been made as to the delay in conveying the news of the wreck of the Star of Greece. The first news was received in Adelaide at 9.20 on Friday morning, while the vessel struck at 3 a.m. Of course the delay in communicating the information was mainly due to the ignorance of the people on shore up to 7 o'clock, when the vessel was first noticed off the beach. As soon as possible, a messenger went to the Aldinga Telegraph Office, about a mile distant, reaching there at 8 o'clock. The telegraph station mistress was roused and tried to get off a message conveying news of the disaster but, owing to Aldinga being a sub-station off the main line and only able to speak Willunga (which is a little over 3 miles distant) when in circuit between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., she was unsuccessful. An attempt was made by the operator to get a special messenger to go to Willunga, but all the people were hurrying to the scene of the disaster, and the first message did not get to Willunga— the repeating station to Adelaide — until after 9 o'clock.

The Minister of Education (Hon. J. C. F,. Johnson) has been informed that the amount of work done at Aldinga does not warrant it being on the main line, and the instrument there is a very old magnetic machine, quite incapable of any fast work with the best operator in the colony. If there had been a telephone attachment, the message would have reached Willunga an hour earlier".
South Australian Register 18 July 1888.

The telephone line between Aldinga and Willunga was completed on 4 September 1888.

Although these places were each in the same general area, the terrain was difficult for transporting produce, etc overland.

Morphett Vale.

 

The line to Cape Jervis.

The need to facilitate the quick transmission of news also led Todd to consider carrying the line to Kangaroo Island. With such a line, there would be no necessity for journalists or merchants to send special messengers to meet the mail at Nepean Bay (on the north-east corner of Kangaroo Island). All telegraphic advices on board the P&O vessels could be put into a separate mail-bag and landed at once at the station on Kangaroo Island and then be forwarded directly by the telegraph clerk.

As early as 1858 there were suggestions about the benefits of constructing a telegraph line to Port Jervis. For example, on 13 September, 1858 there was a note that the high land at Port Noarlunga (Onkaparinga) - Witton Bluff - commanded a view of the Gulf from the Lightship to Cape Jervis. It was therefore an admirably adapted location for a telegraph and lifeboat station, as vessels can approach it near enough to show their number distinctly.

After the telegraph line had been constructed through to Normanville in 1863, the original 1858 thoughts were replaced with a plan to extend the line to Port Jervis. Hence, in the 1866 Estimates, £1,200 was allocated for the construction of the line from Normanville to Cape Jervis.

It was not however until 26 August, 1872 that the South Australian Register was able to report:

THE CAPE JERVIS TELEGRAPH.

"It is gratifying to learn that the work of planting the poles for the telegraph from Normanville to the Cape Jervis lighthouse will be finished next week, Mr. Bradford, the contractor, having energetically carried on his task. When the wire is hung, the advantage of the line to the mercantile community will soon be apparent, for the movements of all vessels coming into Gulf St. Vincent from the eastward or going out through Backstairs Passage. It will then be possible to note and telegraph rapidly. As the wire will pass through Finnis Vale, the inhabitants are trying to get an office opened in that locality".

In March 1873, it was reported that the line to Cape Jervis and the telegraph station there "had been finished some time but are not being used".

This was the beginning of another important Todd project which recognised the importance of the seven lighthouses to the south of Adelaide. Part of this project involved opening up Kangaroo Island to the telegraph.

 

Mitcham, Coromandel Valley and Clarendon.

On 29 April 1876, the South Australian Register reported that a deputation from Clarendon had met the Minister of Education:

"to ask that the Post Office at Clarendon might be used as a Telegraph Station and that the telegraph line might be extended from the South Road at Tapley's Hill to Clarendon or Kangarilla.

It was stated that the point the line would branch off on the South Road was about six miles from Clarendon and that the nearest station was at Noarlunga - a distance of 10 miles across rough country or 18 miles by the road. It would be almost as convenient to come to Adelaide to telegraph as to go to Noarlunga. There was a population of 1,800 within a radius of five or six miles of Clarendon to whom the establishment of a telegraph would be a great boon. In summer time, there was a large increase in the number of residents owing to many commercial gentlemen and others from the city going there with their families to live. The expense, it was felt, would be trifling and it was stated that a local operator might work the line.

Mr. Everard, in replying, said it was the desire of the Government to afford postal and telegraphic facilities to all parts of the colony but the deputation must be aware these public works were a considerable cost to the colony and did not, by many thousands a year, pay their expenses. The Government, therefore, with the heavy debit on these items, must place a limit upon the multiplication of Post and  Telegraph Offices.

Mr. Todd, who was present, he had no doubt would tell them that it was not carrying the line simply six miles. It would be necessary to have a distinct line from Adelaide so that, with the poling, it would be a very expensive line. Similar requests would be made to the Government by other districts, who could urge what the deputation could not, namely, that they had not a daily mail and good roads, by which they could reach the city in two or three hours.

Mr. Todd, however, would report on the whole matter, and if the Government saw that the work could be done at a reasonable cost, probably the request of the deputation would be acceded to.

Mr. Colton pointed out, in reference to the large debit upon the postal and telegraph account, that that was only to be expected in the settlement of a new country. He had no doubt that in a few years, these would become reasonably remunerative. Mr Everhard did not wish it understood that he thought that the Government expected that either should pay for the establishment. The Government only wished the debit balance on that account be as low as possible. The deputation thought it would not be necessary to provide posts all the way to Clarendon if a separate line was provided. The present posts might be used as far as Tapley's Hill or, if the South Road line could not be used, the new line might take a shorter route through Coromandel Valley and Cherry Gardens".

On 25 May 1877, a deputation met with the Minister of Agriculture and Education and Mr. Todd. The deputation believed that a direct line of telegraph was to be erected to Clarendon. If so, they pointed out, it would be easy to add branch lines to Mitcham and Coromandel Valley. They considered that the amount of business by even a few of the merchants in the area would make the line profitable. Mr Murray said his establishment in Coromandel Valley manufacturing biscuits and jams required him to be in constant communication with the other Colonies. Mr. Shipley had lived in the Coromandel Valley for 30 years and for 20 of those years he had been the Postmaster. He had erected two good rooms which would be suitable for an Office.

The Minister said he was reluctant to appoint an storekeeper as a telegraph master - especially considering there were two storekeepers. Mitcham was only four miles from the city and it was difficult to determine why an office there would be profitable. Mr. Todd was to report back.

In February 1879, telegraph poles were being erected through the Coromandel Valley. The Telegraph Offices at Coromandel Valley and Clarendon opened on 7 June 1879 while Mitcham had to wait until 1882.

Meadows also wanted to be connected to the telegraph line and proposals about that possibility were circulating from 1879 - about the time the line to Clarendon had been connected. Telegraph messages for Meadows were, at that time, being delivered from Strathalbyn - a distance of 10 miles - and so were expensive.

On 9 October 1880, at a meeting of the Hundred of Kondoparinga, "a deputation of fifteen ratepayers asked council to take action to get the telegraph line extended to the Meadows. Minutes confirm the request was complied with". Soon after the South Australian Chronicle of 23 October 1880 reported that a deputation had met the Minister of Education

"in reference to the extension of telegraph communication from Clarendon to the Meadows. Mr. C. Todd, C.M.G. (Postmaster General and Superintendent of Telegraphs), was present. A memorial signed by 80 residents in or near the places mentioned was presented. It was represented that at present telegraph messages had to be taken from the Meadows, a distance of twelve miles, to Clarendon or about seven miles to Echunga and that the expense connected with messages delivered was sometimes very considerable. It was also stated that the delay which was at present necessitated partly destroyed the value of the messages.

It would be a great convenience to the business people of the district and also to the ordinary residents when medical assistance was required. The residents asked that a line of 12 miles might be constructed from Clarendon to the Meadows and said that posts could be obtained at a cheap rate. The Minister said the Clarendon Post and Telegraph office cost £120 a year and only £112 was received - the revenue being £25 telegraph and £87 post office. The receipts from Meadows amounted to £61. He would get an estimate of the cost of the work asked for and he would bring the matter before the Cabinet. It was now too late to get parliamentary sanction this session for the work. The Hon. J. Colton said it was only a small matter and the Government could, as they had done before, accept the responsibility of doing what was asked for. The Minister said telegraph lines generally cost about £80 per mile".

Tenders were called to cinstruct the Post & Telegraph Office at a cost of £730 on 31 December 1883. The connection to Meadows was finally made from Clarendon and the Post & Telegraph was opened at Meadows on 1 August 1884.

 

The line back to Strathalbyn.

In January 1880 - as is usual in that time of the year - major bushfires burnt a number of telegraph poles on the southern side of Willunga. This loss disrupted telegraphic communication with Adelaide. The route would then have to be through Port Elliott to Yankalilla and back up the coast line to Adelaide. As a result, the increasing number of commercial firms requiring to conduct their business with the Murray River communities suggested that a telegraph line be constructed from Goolwa to Strathalbyn. Expenditure for such a line had already been included in the Estimates in 1879.

A period of up to three hours was required on some occasions to send a telegram from Goolwa to Milang. The message had to travel to Adelaide first and there be repeated at leisure. The necessity of speedy communication between steamers arriving at Milang (in Lake Alexandrina) and wishing to make arrangements at Goolwa for discharging or loading cargo was most urgent in such circumstances.

In a meeting of the Municipal Corporations in Adelaide on 26 January 1880, the Town Clerk for Goolwa was asked to write to the Commissioner of Crown Lands and ask that the construction of the telegraph line from Goolwa to Strathalbyn be commenced. This proposal was not new - it had been part of Todd's Master Plan and was incorporated into the 1866 Public Works Annual Report - see discussion elsewhere.

The Southern Argus of 5 February 1880 described the situation as follows:

"We have so often urged in our column the necessity of providing direct telegraphic communication with Goolwa that the subject is becoming quite monotonous. The inconveniences of the present system are so great and so needless that it is difficult to understand why they- have not been abolished long before now. Nothing could be more absurd than the present arrangements.

The people of Goolwa are still absolutely dependent on the long and circuitous line from Adelaide via Willunga. The result is that under the best of circumstances, telegrams sent to Goolwa from Strathalbyn or vice versa have to travel just three times the number of miles that divide the two places and the delay which is thus caused frequently produces the utmost inconvenience and in some cases absolute loss. But when any interruption occurs on the Willunga line, the southern ports are thoroughly isolated from the metropolis and Strathalbyn. Unfortunately this frequently occurs - especially during the summer months - from the fact that the line from Willunga to Port Victor passes through a country which is almost periodically devastated by bush fires. An instance in point is the interruption which occurred last week through the destruction by fire of some telegraph posts on the Port Victor side of Willunga ... We trust that the Minister of Education will see fit to push on the work of erecting a telegraph line from Strathalbyn to Middleton in order to obviate the inconveniences connected with the present system. The evil is a grave one — the remedy simple ... The line should have been constructed years ago, but while large sums have been, expended on other distrusts with little prospect of a fair return, the south has been grudged even such a small favor as a telegraph but twenty miles in length".

History repeats itself - especially with disasters. The Express and Telegraph of 23 February 1882 reported:

"Large bushfires between this place and Willunga have again burnt down telegraph poles and for a time interrupted telegraphic communication with Adelaide which at this particular time, when the Darling trade is opening and large quantities of goods and orders are coming forward for shipment means serious loss, annoyance and confusion to all connected with the river. These bushfires and consequent interruptions of telegraphic communication are almost yearly in their occurrence. The money for a new branch line, via the tramway to Strathalbyn has been voted these two years and the Postmaster-General has frequently promised that the line should be erected. The telegraph poles are lying at Port Victor and our members are requested to find out who is responsible for the delay and through it the serious interruptions to the river trade business which have occurred".

The Strathalbyn and Middleton Telegraph.

"The Minister of Education, in answer to Mr. Newland, said the erection of the telegraphic line between Strathalbyn. and Goolwa was determined upon in 1873 and authorised by Loan Act No. 150 of 1879. Nearly the whole of the poles had been supplied. The work had been delayed through failure of the contractors to supply the poles, tenders for which were accepted in March 1881 and should have been supplied by June 1881. A tender for erection of the line had had been accepted and the work would be completed in about eight or ten weeks".
Southern Argus 15 June 1882.

The problem with all this discussion was that the proposed telegraph line became embroiled with the discussion of a tramway/railway/horse railway line between Goolwa and Strathalbyn. Hence little discussion continued about the telegraphs.