The Telegraph Office opened in December 1856 and the results of the races just before Christmas were telegraphed to Geelong for publication "as soon as they were known at Ballaarat".

As early as January 1857, the Telegraph Office was being used extensively. On 28 January 1857, in the Legislative Assembly, the staffing at the office was questions. Mr. Humffray asked the Commissioner of Trade and Customs whether it was the intention of the Government to appoint an assistant to Mr Baker in the telegraph office at Ballaarat. Mr. Childers replied that provisions had been made on the estimates for a head master, a line master and a messenger and, until it was known what the business would probably be, the Government were not inclined to augment that staff. Mr. Humffray then stated Mr Baker was engaged from an early hour in the morning to a very late hour at night. Mr Childers observed that every master of a telegraph station was in a similar position.

Ballarat had two formats for its Belt & Buckle date stamps:

1. a 1 hole design.

Used in black: 12 July 1884 to 16 June 1886.

Size: 27 × 37 mm
(e = 0.68).

Rated: RRR.

12 July 1884.

Provenance:
Hugh Freeman, Johnstone.

17 January 1885.

On a delivery envelope of type VC-EO-8.

16 June 1886.

Provenance: Hugh Freeman, Johnstone.

2. a 2 hole design.

Used in black:
19 June 1889.

Size: 26½ × ??

Rated: RRR.

1. TELEGRAPH OFFICE/
   BALLARAT.

2 line date - Month then day.
Two parallel 1 mm lines on either side of Ballarat.

Used in black: 4 February 1892.

Diameter: 23.5 mm.

Rated: RRRR.

Number in the Census: 1.

2. TELEGRAPH OFFICE/
   BALLARAT.

2 line date - Month then day.
Dots on either side of Ballarat.

Used in black: 31 March 1905 (?) to 10 August 1926.

Diameter: 25 mm.

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 9.

Used on VI-DO-3Da.

Used on a Telephone account.

3. TELEGRAPH OFFICE/
   BALLARAT VIC.
   

1 line date - Day then month.
2.5 and 2 mm side arcs.

Used: 21 January 1925 to 5 September 1946.

Diameter: 29 mm.

Rated RR.

Number in the Census: 20+

4. TELEGRAPH OFFICE BALLARAT/
   VIC.

1 line date.
Side arcs on sides of VIC are 3 mm and 1 mm.

Used 23 May 1931 to 9 July 1965

Diameter: 30 mm.

Rated: RR.

Number in the Census: 10+

5. T.O. Ballarat presumed used with a long date line.

2.5 and 2 mm side arcs.

Used: Cancellation never seen but presumed to exist.

Size: 30.5 mm diameter.

Rated: RRR.

6. T.O Ballarat used with a short date line.

Side arcs 2.5 and 2 mm.

Used: 15 November 1968 (not 20 January 1982 as in WWW)
to 20 October 1982.

Size: 30.5 mm diameter.

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 8.

A postal slogan advertising HAPPY THOUGHTS! CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR GREETINGS BY TELEGRAM was used at Ballarat during the December 1955/January 1956 period.

In August there was a major break-out from the gaol. The Ballarat Star claimed "that the cost to the state of the late Ballarat Gaol breaking has been not less than £2,000. Of this amount it has been estimated that £500 worth of telegraphing was done in connection with the affair".

There appears to have been a Telegraph Office at the Ballarat Race Course at some time - open only on race days. The Argus of 24 March 1876 reported: "The opening meeting of the newly-formed Victoria Amateur Turf Club takes place today on the Ballarat course. There are six events, of which the principal is the Victoria Gold Cup Handicap Steeplechase of three miles ... There will be one train soon after noon from Ballarat West to the course and one back after the last race. The telegraph office will be open on the course during the day". Nothing else is known about this Office. It may be a precursor of the T.O. opened at the Ballarat Miners' Racecourse between about 1933 and 1938.

Staffing news at Ballarat.

The Geelong Advertiser of 5 June 1874 carried the following story:

The following characteristic address has been presented, along with a handsome present, to a Telegraph Operator in Ballarat by his fellow clerks in the Eastern Telegraph Office on the occasion of his marriage with Mr. J. Oldie's niece:

E.T.O. Ballarat, 2 June 1874.
To Mr William Blandford, Senior Operator, Ballarat Office.

We, your fellow officers have much pleasure in availing ourselves of this opportunity to offer our sincere congratulations upon your change of 'circuit' and, in doing so, we ask you to accept this small token as an acknowledgment of our kind feelings. Having 'aitched' yourself on to another 'line' we trust you will not 'insulate' yourself from the old office 'connections' but will allow us to continue to share in that same fellowship hitherto enjoyed. We hope the 'line' you have recently taken will long continue 'uninterrupted', be one on which there will be few 'breaks', no 'contentions for circuit', a 'relay' of happiness requiring no 'adjustment' and may there always exist between the 'magnet' and 'armature' the strongest 'attraction' for which no 'key' may be necessary to destroy".

The Telegraph Office opened in January 1857. On 7 January, the Argus reported that "some parties working at the back of the new telegraph office, opposite the Argus office, yesterday found a nugget of 27 lbs. weight ... it strikes us that those who have gone to Dunolly and elsewhere had better have remained upon old Bendigo". 

Almost immediately, questions were asked in the Legislative Assembly about the difficulties of communication. On 28 January in the Legislative Assembly "the attention of the Commissioner of Customs was called to the fact of the telegraphic communication with Sandhurst being broken, and explained that it arose from some of the posts having been carried away by bullock teams".

The Sandhurst Post Office was renamed Bendigo about June 1891.

Sandhurst (later Bendigo) in the 1850s just before the time when
the telegraph line was constructed.

There are three formats for Telegraph datestamps for Bendigo:

• Belt & Buckle design - one hole - first with SANDHURST and used to about 1891 and later with BENDIGO - known only with SE28/1893;
• TELEGRAPH OFFICE - early date stamps had Sandhurst at the base. Post-1891 date stamps had either BENDIGO at the base or the text simply carried on. The last format has VIC at the base;
• rubber date stamps with either a triple or a double oval. The triple oval was 49 × 29 mm in size and was used with violet ink. It is known for 20FEB1956 and is rated RRRR. The double oval was 55 × 36 mm in size and is known for 1 MAR 1988. It is also rated RRRR.

6 February 1893
(latest recorded date) .

Provenance:
Hugh Freeman, Johnstone.

2. Bendigo: 1 hole in black.

Used in black: 21 January 1893 to 28 September 1893 (?).

Size: 28 × 39 mm (e = 0.70)

Rated: RRRR.

Number in the Census: 1.

Size: 25 mm diameter.

Earliest use in black: 6 May 1882.
Latest use in black: 27 August 1888.

Rated: RRR.

>Number in the Census: 12.

Not recorded in WWW.

Used on VC-DO-10.

Used on VC-DO-10.

Earliest use in blue: 6 May 1882.

Rated: RRRR.

Number in the Census: 1.

Not recorded in WWW.

23 May 1887.

Used on VC-DO-11C.

1. TELEGRAPH OFFICE
   BENDIGO.
   Date in two lines.

Size: 25 mm diameter.
0.5 mm side arcs.

Used: 25 February 1895 to 29 June 1922.

Rated: NC.

25 February 1895.

Used on VC-DO-15B.

11 May 1907.

Used on VI-DO-2A.

2. TELEGRAPH OFFICE
   BENDIGO.
   Date in one line.

Size: 28 mm diameter.
1.5 mm and 1 mm side arcs.

Used: 16 December 1912 to 18 May 1959
(latest recorded 10 Sept. 1948).

Rated: R

Number in the Census: 10.

Used on VI-DO-3Da.

Used on AB-DU-3B.

.

Used on the reverse side of a registered 2½ PSE to Perth with two other cancellations on the embossed image and additional stamps.

3. TELEGRAPH OFFICE BENDIGO
   VIC.

Large date line.
No dot after VIC.

Size: 29 mm diameter.

Used: 30 March 1938

Rated: RR.

Not included in WWW.

Also used on some now scarce philatelic covers on 12 November 1955 for the 2nd Philatelic Conference of the Victorian Philatelic Council.

4. TELEGRAPH OFFICE BENDIGO
   VIC.
   Large date line.
   Dot after VIC.

Size: 30 mm diameter.
2 mm and 2.5 mm side arcs.

Used: 27 June 1925 to 10 March 1960.

Rated S.

1. RO6-TO.

Size: 29 × 48 mm.

Used: 20 February 1956 (only recorded date).

Rated: RRRR.

Number in the Census: 0.

1. RO2-TO.

Size: 36 × 55 mm.

Used: 1 March 1988 (only recorded date).

Rated: RRRR.

Number in the Census: 0.

Only one slogan date stamp was used at Bendigo to advertise the Telegraphic service.

Datestamp: Circle
(diameter: 21 mm).

Base inscription: VIC.

Characteristics:
Die 4B: the A is above the G and the upright of the L, if extended, is to the left of the S above.
No separation marks in the date stamp.

Only recorded date of this format:
17 March 1939.

Number in the Census: 1.

Telegraph Offices were also opened in three locations around Bendigo:

• Bendigo Cricket Ground - opened about 1933 and closed about 1970.
• Bendigo R.S. - opened about 1910 to 29 July 1977;
• Bendigo Racecourse - opened about 1933 and closed about 1938.

The Telegraph Office opened in December 1854. On 17 November 1854, the Geelong Advertiser reported (p.4): "We have much pleasure in stating that the line of electric telegraph between Melbourne and Geelong will be completed about Monday next (20th), it being now finished up to within half a mile of the town. The Telegraph Office is to be at the top of Bellerine Street, and is now in the course of construction, but will not be ready for use for the next six weeks. We have been informed that the telegraph will not be worked until this office is finished. We think it is very unfair that the public should have to wait these six weeks until they can have the benefit of quick communication with Melbourne, when the difficulty which at present exists might be obviated by a temporary office either being hired or erected. The operations of the telegraph will mark a new era in journalism. We shall soon be in a position to present our readers every morning with a report of the Legislative Council's proceeding of the previous evening".

Source: State Library of Victoria SLV H96 210449.

The Argus, of 24 January 1855 (p.4) ran the following story from the Geelong Correspondent:

"As the grand principle of the electric telegraph is rapidity of communication, I am at a loss to understand why the Geelong Telegraph Office has been placed beyond the pale of business entirely. Had some fool or evil-disposed person wished to ridicule the affair, or deprive the public of the vast benefits to be derived from the establishment, he could have taken no better step than the Government has done itself by placing the office outside the town, that is, at the corner of Bellerine and McKillop streets, about one mile from the centre of business. Just fancy the Melbourne office being erected at Collingwood and you will have some idea of the inconvenience we shall be afforded, from what you might expect yourselves in that case. The public should endeavor to have this ridiculous arrangement altered at once". The story is continued at length elsewhere.

On 28 January 1857, in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Childers, in reply to Mr, Fyfe, said it was the intention of the Government to change the site of the present telegraph station at Geelong but the new site had not been determined. He imagined, however, that it would be erected somewhere in the vicinity of the Post Office of that town.

In February 1881, an advertisement for the auction of a property described the lot, in part, as being "a residence in McKillop Street, next door to the old telegraph office".

In October 1887, questions were asked in the Legislative Assembly as to why telegrams delivered near Geelong attracted a 3/- charge.

Geelong wharf about 1900.
The Post & Telegraph Office is to the left of the telegraph pole in the centre
and under the high ship masts.

3. TELEGRAPH OFFICE GEELONG/
   VIC.
   

Characteristics:

• T V 2½ mm apart;
• large date line.
• 2 and 1.5 mm side arcs.

Used in violet: 21 July 1928 to 26 August 1953.

Diameter: 28 mm.

Rated: RRRR (WWW 2930).

21 July 1928.

4. TELEGRAPH OFFICE GEELONG/
   VIC.
   

Characteristics:

• T-V 4 mm apart;
• large date line;
• 1 mm and 1.5 mm side arcs around VIC;
• Date line aligns between G and L.

Used: 21 July 1930 to 5 February 1955
(in black, violet and blue on particular dates).

Diameter: 28 mm.

Rated: RRR (WWW 2940A).

5. TELEGRAPH OFFICE GEELONG/
   VIC.
   

Characteristics:

• Large date line;
• T-V 3 mm apart;
• Side arcs are 1 and 1.5 mm.

Used in black: 19 April 1933 to 7 May 1968.

Diameter: 28 mm.

Rated RR.

6. TELEGRAPH OFFICE GEELONG/
   VIC.
   

Characteristics:

• Nylon wheels for the short date line;
• T-V 4 mm apart;
• Side arcs are 1 and 1.5 mm.

Used: 5 January 1963 to 3 May 1971.

Diameter: 28 mm.

Rated: RRRR (WWW 2940B).

7. E.T.O. GEELONG.
   
   

Characteristics:

Long date line.

Used: 21 January 1934 to 1 November 1968.

Diameter: 28 mm.
5 and 6 mm side arcs.

Rated: Scarce.

12 January 1934.

Diameter: 26 mm.

1. Geelong Cricket Ground.

The Telegraph Office at the ground opened about 1933 and it closed about 1940.

A special date stamp for the ground has never been seen.

2. Geelong Ford's Works.

The Telegraph Office at the factory opened about 1926 and closed on 14 September 1956.

The date stamp GEELONG FORD'S Works is known for:

• 1926 with 3mm arc at right.
  Rated: RRRR.
• 20 November 1935 to 13 September 1954 with 1.5 mm side arc at right.
  Rated: RR
  

3. Geelong Railway Station.

The Telegraph Office at the Station opened about 1910 and was reclassified as a PO about 1915. It was then reclassified back to a Telegraph Office about 1940 before closing on 20 August 1976.

No information about a date stamp is available.

The Telegraph Office at the Racecourse opened about 1933 and closed about 1940. No information about a date stamp is available.

Two postal slogans advertising:

1. HAPPY THOUGHTS! CHRISTMAS ANDNEW YEAR GREETINGS BY TELEGRAM.
2. SEND A TELEGRAM.

were used at Geelong in December 1941 and in January 1942.

The Telegraph opened as Sandridge in July 1855 as part of the first telegraph line in Victoria.

In 1884, the original name of Sandridge was changed to Port Melbourne.

1. A 1 hole Belt & Buckle date stamp:

Used in black: 18 July 1889 to 25 April 1894.

Size: ??

Rated: RRR.

2. A rubber rectangular TELEGRAPH date stamp (RRH1-T)
   Office and telephone.

Used in purple: 13 May 1987.

Size: 31 × 39 mm.

Rated: RRR.

Faint postal date stamp on
AE-DO-1D telegram form sent from
Brisbane to the HMAS Australia
which was docking briefly in Melbourne.

The Telegraph Office opened in January 1855. The telegraph posts to Geelong had been fixed in place in November 1954. The Post Office had opened as Shortland's Bluff on 1 May 1853 but changed name to Queenscliff in 1854. The contractor was Mr. G. W. Owen who also constructed the Camberwell-Lilydale telegraph line and ran for the Council in Traralgon in 1900.

It did not take long to capitalise on the presence of the Telegraph Office. From January 1855, the Argus was carrying advertisements similar to the following:

QUEENSCLIFFE - To Let, beautifully situated, close to the Beach, a Dwelling House, with detached Kitchen and Offices, well adapted for a large family or a boarding house.

This interesting watering-place can be reached by steamer almost daily, and being connected by telegraph with Melbourne and, having a daily mail, offers a desirable retreat for a mercantile or professional gentleman".

Used in black: 22 January 1886 and 6 April 1894.

Size: 27 × 38 mm (e = 0.70).

Rated: not scarce.

22 January 1886 - earliest recorded date.

Used on a postcard to the Pilot Board reporting "the Mavis had been brought inside Port Philip Heads by me this day for the purpose of getting provisions".

13 January 1894.

Used on a wrapper to Gordon & Gotch.

Queenscliff Belt & Buckle date stamp. 23 April 1890.
Largest recorded multiple of Belt & Buckle strikes on one piece - three strikes across five 1d Naish.
Provenance: Hugh Freeman, Johnstone.

Bob was assigned to the Queenscliff Telegraph Office.

At that time, Bob was aged 14 years.

The Telegraph Office opened in March 1854 although tenders "for the completion of the erection of the Office" closed on 17 October 1854.

In December 1873, a tender was let for £33 to D. Ross for the purchase and removal of the old Telegraph Office at Williamstown.

The TELEGRAPH OFFICE.
Williamstown Chronicle 25 December 1885.

We trust that the Williamstown Council will continue to agitate until something is done in the direction of extending and modernising the local Post Office. The recent Departmental "concessions" consisted of an alteration of the time table and the placing of a clock underneath the porch.

Councillors seem truly grateful for the small benefits received but the public will not be satisfied until additional premises have been erected wherein to transact the business of the money order, telegraph and savings bank departments. Anything less than this will be considered wholly inadequate for the requirements of the town.

The present enclosure at the disposal of the public is not large enough to swing an able-bodied cat in and it is a crying disgrace that the wing was not enlarged years ago. The Post Office of any small inland town generally affords ample elbow room for the persons who go there to transact their business. It is not a pleasant thing to be obliged to stand cheek by jowl with a person, of an enquiring turn of mind, who is anxious to know where the deuce you are going to send that telegram to why the deuce you should draw all that money from the savings bank. The business done in such places is generally of a semi-private nature and nobody likes to conduct his or her private affairs before a cloud of witnesses.

Councillors must really see the Postmaster-General again and tell him distinctly that running a Telegraph Office and a Bank in a fowl house is not in accord with that spirit of progress for which the Colony is noted".

A rubber TELEGRAPH date stamp (RRV1-T) was also used at the Telegraph Office.

Used: 20 June 1942.

Size: 26 × 25 mm.

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 1.

It is hereby notified that, on and after the 1st May proximo, a time-signal will be given daily (Sundays excepted) by means of a black ball working on the topmast of the flagstaff at Shortland's Bluff.

The signal will correspond to 1 o'clock p.m. mean time, as corrected at the Astronomical Observatory, Williamstown.

The ball will be hoisted to the full height at five minutes before one, and will drop at one o'clock precisely.

In the event of imperfection or incorrectness occurring on any occasion in giving the signal, the No. 2 flag pendant (Marryat's code) will be immediately shown and kept flying at the mast-head for fifteen minutes.

Samuel Walker McGowan,
General Superintendent of Electric Telegraph.
Department of Electric Telegraph.