Telegraph poles, Brisbane Street 1910 – photograph courtesy of Picture Ipswich

There is a lot of excitement about the Government’s rollout of the National Broadband Network in Ipswich as it will improve our capability and speed in communications and information gathering. In 1861, the people of Ipswich were just as excited by the opening of the first Telegraph lines connecting them to Brisbane. This technology also improved dramatically the capability and speed of information to and from the Ipswich residents of the time.

The Telegraph office was opened on Saturday, April 13, 1861 at the Ipswich Post Office. On that first day 22 telegrams were handled. The first telegram was sent from J. Bramston, Clerk of the Executive Council to the Police Magistrate of Ipswich, Colonel Gray, congratulating the people of Ipswich on the establishment of telegraphic communications. The longest telegram sent on that momentous day was sent by a Mr Roberts and was twenty-one words long and cost three shillings and ten pence.