The Overland Telegraph Demonstration, Ad…

Rare, c.19th hand coloured engraving of the large crowd gathered in King William Street, Adelaide for the celebration of the establishment of the telegraphic communication between Australia and the rest of the world.

The event celebrated the practical proof that messages could be transmitted from Australia through the continent’s interior to Darwin and onward via submarine cable to Asia and Europe, a technological achievement that ended the colony’s communications isolation.  The demonstration formed part of the civic festivities that followed completion of the Australian Overland Telegraph in 1872, engineered under the direction of Charles Todd, Superintendent of Telegraphs in South Australia. Public gatherings in Adelaide featured official messages exchanged with overseas centres, speeches by colonial authorities, and ceremonial recognition of the engineers and line workers who had crossed some of the most difficult terrain in the continent. The occasion symbolised South Australia’s emergence as the communications gateway of the Australian colonies.

From the original edition of the Illustrated Australian News. 

Collections:
University Queensland: Identifier 991000982479703131
State Library Victoria: PCINF IAN 04-09-76 P.133
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2495305
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBERS F079/55, TN380
Royal Geographic Society SA: RGS Special Coll. 079.94 I29d

References:
Syme, E. & D, Illustrated Australian News. ISSN 2208-5386.