South Australia taps into Charles Todd drive and skill to score 1872 overland telegraph coup ahead of other colonies
Charles Todd (wearing his CMG: Cross of St Michael and St George Medal honour) gained international renown for overseeing South Australia's overland telegraph project linking Darwin and Adelaide (see map lower right) in 1872. The project shortcircuited the previous 1860s plan (see map upper right) to connect the overseas cable to Brisbane and link with other telegraph lines (shown in red) that Todd had been a prime instigator.
Images courtesy State Library of South Australia via South Australian Archives;and Wikipedia
Charles Todd’s major 1872 triumph by overseeing the overland telegraph linking Darwin and Adelaide (to Europe) came from the South Australian government harnessing Todd’s expertise and enthusiasm and backing the project to score a coup ahead of other Australian colonies.
That same competitive motive had pushed the South Australian government to support John McDouall Stuart expedition in 1860-61 that found a route to the Indian Ocean that would guide Todd’s project.
Charles Todd proposed overland telegraph lines – including a transcontinental project – soon after arriving in 1855 in South Australia to become its government’s astronomical and meteorological observer and head of electric telegraph department, bringing knowledge from his time at the royal observatory and Cambridge University observatory in England.
In 1856, Todd found his small South Australia telegraph department without a line built and his first commission was one between Adelaide city and Port Adelaide, replacing the private project by James Macgeorge. Todd then told South Australia governor Richard MacDonnell that a line to Melbourne was important to precede meteorological proposals.
Todd met the Victorian telegraphs superintendent (and future friend) Samuel McGowan in Melbounre. The South Australian and Victoria governments accepted their significant joint recommendation for line to laid down under a uniform and successful system (Morse's), that New South Wales be included and that Australia be ultimately connected by telegraph to India. Todd returned to survey the 300 miles section from the South Australia border to Adelaide. His success confirmed the governor's high opinion of his character, ability and vision. In 1858, the government awarded him good service pay of £1,820.
Todd's meteorological plan from 1856 depended on a network of observation stations to report daily to the observatory. This was finally achieved in 1860 with the Adelaide observatory getting the needed instruments and 14 selected stations. As the telegraph system expanded, so did the meteorological stations, with a greater impetus 10 years later when Todd took over post offices.
In England, proposals to link with Australia by telegraph were mooted in 1854 with first plans put to its colonies in 1858. The route was by India to Singapore and the Dutch islands to the north, by cable around the east coast to Brisbane and by landline to Sydney. The link depended on subsidies from the British and colonial governments and complex negotiation. Todd examined and reported lucidly on every proposal.
Stuart’s crossing of the continent in 1862 proved a north-south line project feasible but the discussions dragged on and lapsed in 1863, Meanwhile, the Adelaide to Melbourne line was doubled, Todd was chief negotiator for a direct line to Sydney in 1866 and a line was run to Port Augusta to extend west or north. On January 1, 1870, Todd became South Australia's postmaster general and revived a scheme for a line to Perth and up the west coast but received little support.
South Australia had gained control of the Northern Territory and suitable cable landing places in 1863. In 1870, the British Australian Telegraph Co. planned to land a Europe-link cable near Palmerston (Darwin) and connect it to Queensland. When the company sought permission from South Australia to land the cable in the Northern Territory, premier Henry Bull Strangways decided to build an overland line from South Australia to Darwin, independent of other colonies, and the company accepted.
Drawing on his experience, Todd produced a detailed plan for building the Darwin-Port Augusta line over 1,800 miles, handicapped by lack of time and an inadequate survey. Determined and confident, Todd overcame multiple obstacles to complete the huge task in 1872. He followed it in 1877 by overseeing the Port Augusta to Eucla section of the telegraph link to Western Australia.
The Darwin-Adelaide telegraph undersea connection across Asia to England was completed a few months after Todd's project came on line in 1872. It enabled Australians to transmit messages to London in just five hours, rather than four months via mail steamer ships. It also made Adelaide commnications central for messages coming in first from the United Kingdom and Europe.
