The
Electric
Telegraph
Folkestone
Harbour was
not where the
electric
telegraph
was invented
but it was
the area in
which it was
proven to be
more capable
than was
previously
considered.
There were a
number of
stages in
the
development
of the
electric
telegraph.
In 1746 the
French
scientist
and abbé
Jean-Antoine
Nollet
gathered
about two
hundred
monks into a
circle about
a mile in
circumference,
with pieces
of iron wire
connecting
them. He
then
discharged a
battery of
Leyden jars
through the
human chain
and observed
that each
man reacted
at
substantially
the same
time to the
electric
shock,
showing that
the speed of
electricity's
transmission
was very
high.
Eventually
in 1835
Joseph Henry
invented the
critical
electrical
relay by
which a weak
current
could
operate a
powerful
local
electromagnet
over very
long
distances.
The South
Eastern
Railway was
an early
adopter of
this
technology
and on the
right is the
network of
cables after
Folkestone
Harbour was
opened.
Notice how
important
the harbour
was to the
network.
Charles V
Walker was
the South
Eastern
Railway's
Superintendent
of
Telegraphs
and in 1850
he wrote a
report of
his
experiment
that took
place off
Folkestone
Harbour the
previous
year.
As the South
Eastern
moved closer
to opening
the world's
first
rail-sea-rail
service it
was realised
just how
important it
was for
up-to-date
information
to be
exchanged
about
timekeeping,
passenger
and freight
loadings
etc.
Walker
wanted to
prove a long
held theory
that salt
water would
allow
electrical
pluses to
pass so he
went about
gathering an
experiment
whereby a
telegraph
cable was
laid from
Folkestone
Harbour for
about 2
miles into
the English
Channel.
He also
fitted
equipment
into the
South
Eastern &
Continental
Steam Packet
Company’s
vessel
Princess
Clementine.
For those
interested,
a
reconstruction
of Tonbridge
Telegraph
Office
equipment is
on display
at the
STC
exhibition
at the
Science
Museum in
London.
The original
was visited
by Charles
Dickens at
about the
time that
Walker's
report was
issued and
he published
details in
his
'Household
Words'
magazine.
Use of the
telegraph
for railway
business was
high for
that time
and about 45
messages a
day were
sent by the
Tonbridge
office.
Folkestone
Harbour with
its ferry
connections
was seen to
potentially
be at least
as busy as
Tonbridge.
Walker
suggested
that
information
was key by
noting "On a
railway like
the South
Eastern,
which is the
High Road
between the
Continent
and the
Capital of
the British
Empire,
couriers may
arrive from
abroad, as
indeed they
do at all
hours, and
without any
previous
notice,
require
immediate
means of
reaching
London".
Clearly the
business
objective
was for
special
trains to be
quickly
offered at a
price.
Walker
resolved to
test the
theories and
he connected
a 2 miles
long
submarine
cable to the
railway's 83
mile link
with London.
On 10th
January 1849
at 12.49 the
first
telegraphed
conversation,
using a
submarine
cable from
Folkestone
Harbour,
took place
between
Charles
Walker
onboard the
South
Eastern &
Continental
Steam Packet
Company’s
vessel
Princess
Clementine
in passage
from
Folkestone
and the
South
Eastern
Railway’s
Chairman at
their
headquarters
in London
and
afterwards
with various
stations on
the line of
route.
This was a
week after
opening the
London -
Paris
service and
the first
message was
simply "Mr
Walker to
Chairman,-I
am on board
the Princess
Clementine:
I am
successful".
When comparing
the electric
telegraph
with texting
on mobile
phones it
seems that
they are at
least on a
pare with
Walker
recording 14
words per
minute as
being a
reasonable
rate of
transmission.
By all
accounts
messages
were
exchanged
with other
stations on
the route
"for a few
hours"
before the
submarine
cable was
pulled in
and
reassigned
to Merstham
Tunnel in
Surrey.
