TC-TO-1

Tasmania - Colonial period: 1857-1900.
Transmission form: TC-TO-1.

Home, index, site details
Australia 1901-1988
New South Wales
Queensland
- Overview of Qld
  - General developments
  - Reports
- Telegraph lines
- Telegraph Offices
  - Listing of TOs
  - GPO & CTO
- Date stamps
- Forms
- Envelopes
  - Ordinary rate
  - Urgent rate
- Rates
- Stamps
- Ephemera
South Australia
- Overview of SA
  - General Developments
  - Reports
- Organisation
- Telegraph lines
- Telegraph offices
- Date stamps
  - Overview
  - Central Office date stamps
- Forms
  - Colonial period
  - Interim period
- Envelopes
- Rates
- Stamps
Tasmania
- Overview of Tasmania
  - General developments
  - Reports
- Organisation
- Telegraph lines
  - Overview of lines
  - Cable to Vic
- Telegraph Offices
  - Listing of TOs
  - GPO & CTO
- Date stamps
- Forms
  - Colonial forms - all
  - Interim forms - all
- Envelopes
- Railway lines
- Rates
- Stamps
Victoria
- Overview of Victoria
  - General Developments
  - Reports
- Organisation
- Telegraph lines
- Telegraph Offices
  - Listing of TOs
  - GPO & CTO
- Date stamps
- Forms
- Envelopes
  - Colonial period
  - Interim period
- Rates
- Stamps
  - Telegraph stamps
  - Postage stamps
- Ephemera
  - Frank stamps
Western Australia
International
Special aspects

General characteristics:

Heading and notes:	No form number. Heading is ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, TASMANIA below a 39 mm wide crest.
Message area:	Blank.
Reverse side:	Blank.
Colours (text & form):	Red on thick blue paper.
Size of form overall:	A&B: 214 × 172 (approx) mm. C: 209 × 162 (approx) mm.

Distinctive characteristics of this form:

Has "No. ...." in top right corner;
Telegram details in lower left corner with signature and address of sender below;
printed in red on blue paper;
there are three variations based on the printed date:
1A: date printed as 186_;
1B: date printed as 18_ :
1C: date printed as 187_.

These forms are the first type of transmission form issued by the Colonial Government in Tasmania.

The first two formats were probably made available in sheet form with no provision for a copy to be made.

The third format was printed in one sheet with two halves. The message to be transmitted was written on the right side wjile a copy of the message, to be retained by the sender, was written on the left side. The Telegraph Operator would then slice the form into two halves (and a rough job it generally was too!!) and hand the left side back to the sender. An imaginative mock-up composite is included below.

Provenance: Dingle Smith.	TC-TO-1A. Longford to Launceston. 6 March 1863. Characeristics: date begins with 186_;
	TC-TO-1B. Bothwell to Hobart 7 November 1870. Characteristics: date begins with 18__; few details in heading.
	TC-TO-1C (left form). Green Ponds to Brighton. 7 December 1871. Characteristics: the top of form has the words "Duplicate - retained by the sender of the message"; decorative scroll is down the right sde of the form; information inthe lower left corner is only Words and Charges in one line. Only recorded example of the left side form which was retained by the Sender.
	TC-TO-1C (right form). To New Norfolk (4 October 1871). Characteristics: has decorative scroll down left side - see below. The message has a manuscript "Immediate". As Urgent telegrams had not been introduced at this stage, the inscription must be interpreted as being an early form of an URGENT telegram. None of the few (less than 10) forms have an edge anywhere near being straight. (Tasmanian Stamp Auctions (August 2012).
A made-up composite using two different messages to show how the original form may have appeared before being cut.

Details of use and rarity.

Form sub-number	Schedule number	Earliest recorded date	Rarity rating
TO-1A	None.	6 March 1863 at Longford.	RRR
TO-1B	None.	7 November 1870 at Bothwell.	RR
TO-1C (left)	None.	28 September 1871 at Green Ponds.	RRRR
TO-1c (right)	None.	28 September 1871 at Green Ponds.	RRR