150 Years Of the Overland Telegraph Line!

Note by James Todd, Overland Telegraph Line Group & VIP Guest for the 2022 Henley on Todd:

"There will be over 30 descendants of Charles and Alice Todd at the Henley on Todd this year commemorating the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line. The OTL story is a very significant part of the extended Todd family history, but also for many other families whose ancestors worked on the Line.

The first pole was planted on 15 September 1870 and, after one year and 11 months, a telegraph line over 2,800 kilometres long from Port Augusta to Darwin was completed on 22 August 1872, through some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Over 36,000 poles were placed 80m apart with telegraph stations built every 200km.

The OTL was a milestone event in Australia’s history and changed the way we related to the world. News could now arrive from Europe, within hours, rather than three or more months by sea. The rapid exchange of commercial information with Europe, Asia and North America resulted in significant economic benefits for the Australian colonies, as they then were.”