distant writing 2012

Steven Roberts, the writer, can be contacted by email at [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Distant Writing A History of the Telegraph Companies in Britain between 1838 and 1868 © Steven Roberts 2006 - 2012 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Chapter Page Introduction 3 1. Cooke & Wheatstone 4 2. The Electric Telegraph Company 14 3. Competitors and Allies 71 British Electric Telegraph Company English & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company European Telegraph Company Submarine Telegraph Company Electric Telegraph Company of Ireland Irish Sub-Marine Telegraph Company International Telegraph Company British & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company London District Telegraph Company United Kingdom Electric Telegraph Company Bonelli’s Electric Telegraph Company Economic Telegraph Company Reuter’s Telegram Company Great Northern Telegraph Company Indo-European Telegraph Company Other active companies 4. The Universal Telegraph 126 The Universal Private Telegraph Company 5. Bain 159 6. Non-Competitors 172 Company and individual failures 7. How the Companies worked 184 8. What the Companies charged 204 9. The Companies and the News 209 10. The Companies and the Weather 218 11. The Companies Abroad 220 12. The Companies’ Foreign Operations 235 13. Railway Signal Telegraphy 1838-68 241 14. The Telegraph at War 1854-68 246 15. Technical Detail 253 16. Finale 282 17. Telegraph Stations 1862 287 18. Telegraph Company Stamps 291 19. The Rest of the World 293 20. Appendices a. A List of Telegraph Companies 1838-68 297 b. Domestic Telegraph Companies 1868 298 c. Addresses 299 d. Domestic and Foreign Cables 302 e. Personalities 302 f. Telegraphic Suppliers 315 g. Special Acts of Parliament 320 h. Royal Charters 322 i. Government Acts affecting telegraphy 322 j. Significant Patents 324 k. Legal Context, Company & Patent Law 326 l. Glossary 327 m. Love’s Telegraph 329 n. Perceptions of the Telegraph Companies 329 o. Sources 331 p. Index to Web Illustrations 336 List of Tables 1. Growth of the Railways 1800-1850 13 2. Cooke & Wheatstone’s Business 1845 15 3. The Telegraph and the Railways 1846 16 4. The Telegraph and the Railways 1847 21 5. The Telegraph and the Railways 1852 38 6. Statistics on the Telegraphs in the United Kingdom 1852 47 7. Electric Telegraph Co – Four Years of Growth 1851 - 1854 51 8. The Telegraph and the Railways 1854 52 9. Electric Telegraph Co – Station Staffing and Total of Employees 1854 54 10. Electric Telegraph Co – Growth 1850 – 1859 56 11. Electric Telegraph Co - Profits 1850 – 1859 59 12. Electric Telegraph Co - Growth in Message Traffic 1851 - 1859 60 13. Electric Telegraph Co – Message rates, revenue sources, circuit revenues 62 14. Electric Telegraph Co – System Development 1850 – 1868 68 15. English & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co - Miles of Line 1853 77 16. Submarine Telegraph Co - Message Traffic to Europe 1852 – 1856 81 17. Submarine Telegraph Co - Cables laid and durability 1863 83 18. British & Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co - Growth 1857 – 1859 90 19. The Telegraph in 1859 & 1861 94 20. London District Telegraph Co – Growth 1860 – 1868 106 21. London District Telegraph Co - Income - Expenditure 1861-1868 107 22. United Kingdom Electric Telegraph Co – Growth 1861 - 1865 111 23. The Final Reckoning – the Telegraph and the Railways 1868 125 24. Bain’s I & V Alphabet or Code 168 25. Electric Telegraph Co - Station Staff 1860 186 26. Telegraphic Apparatus in a Station 189 27. Electric Telegraph Co – District Staff 1860 190 28. Employment in the Telegraph Industry 1861 191 29. Postage Rates for a Letter 1838 205 30. Electric Telegraph Co – Average Message Costs 1850 - 1864 207 31. Deutsch-Oesterreichischen

distant writing 2012

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