[Magnetic Telegraph Company / The Magnetic / British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company / Bright, Edward Brailsford (1813 – 1913)].

British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co. (Limited) – Large Fold-Out-Sheet with: “Instructions for Forwarding Messages by other Companies – (For Private Information Only)”. This exceptional piece of Ephemera comes with an Original piece of the 19th century undersea-cable. The very rare, original Instruction-Sheet which was meant to hang inside of the first Telegraph Offices was published by Edward B.Bright in the Chief Offices in Liverpool, July, 1862 [and it automatically cancelled the one which dated December 1860].

Liverpool, British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Co. (Limited), 1862. Elephant Folio SHett (51.5 cm wide x 82 cm high). Folded into an original cloth folder sized: 14.2 cm wide x 21.8 cm high. Original Hardcover with fold-out-sheet (Poster) inside. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear.

The Poster-sheet with Instructions is signed in printed letters by Edward Brailsford Bright, Secretary and General Manager of the Magnetic Telegraph Company, Liverpool; historian of the telegraph industry; brother of Charles Tilston Bright (1832-1888)

The stunning Poster includes wonderful offers on how to deliver messsages, for example:

Messages for….. To be handed to:

Leeds – Foot porterage to Racecourse, 1s.
Glasgow – Messages cannot be accepted for delivery by man & horse
Scilly Islands – 40 miles 1s by Steam-Boat
London – Takes for Aldershott Camp by Government telegraph free, or messenger, 2s.
Edinburgh – Takes for North Berwick (5miles) – No horses obtainable
Southampton – Takes for West Indies , Brazils &c. by mail steamer as parcel 5s.
London/Cambridge – Takes for Ascot and Eton College
Oxford – To be handed over to “Electric″
London – Takes for Lyme Regis
etc. etc.

The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company (also called the Magnetic Telegraph Company or the Magnetic) was a provider of telegraph services and infrastructure. It was founded in 1850 by John Brett. The Magnetic became the principal competitor to the largest telegraph company in the United Kingdom, Electric Telegraph Company (the Electric), and became the leading company in Ireland. The two companies dominated the market until the telegraph was nationalised in 1870.

The company’s first objective, in 1852, was to provide the first telegraph service between Great Britain and Ireland by means of a submarine cable between Portpatrick in Scotland and Donaghadee in Ireland. The cable core was gutta-percha insulated copper wire made by the Gutta Percha Company. This was armoured with iron wires by R. S. Newall and Company at their works in Sunderland. Before this could be achieved, two other companies attempted to be the first to make the connection across the Irish Sea.

Despite having the contract to lay the Magnetic company’s cable, Newall also secretly constructed another cable at their Gateshead works with the intention of being first to get a telegraph connection to Ireland. This Newall cable was only lightly armoured with an open ‘bird-cage’ structure of the iron wires, there was no cushioning layer between the core and the armour, and the insulation was not properly tested before laying because of the great hurry to get the job done before Magnetic was ready. This cable was laid from Holyhead in Wales to Howth, near Dublin with William Henry Woodhouse as engineer, and thence to Dublin via underground cable along the railway line. Laying of the submarine cable was completed on 1 June 1852 by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s chartered paddle steamer Britannia of 1825, usually used as a cattle ship, and with assistance from the Admiralty with HMS Prospero.However, the cable failed a few days later and was never put into service.

In July of the same year, the Electric Telegraph Company of Ireland tried using an insulated cable inside a hemp rope on the Portpatrick to Donaghadee route. This construction proved problematic because it floated (the Submarine Telegraph Company’s Dover to Calais cable in 1850 was also lightweight, having no protection at all other than the insulation, but they had taken the precaution of adding periodic lead weights to sink the cable). It was laid from a schooner Reliance, assisted by tugs. The strong sea currents in the Irish Sea, much deeper than the English Channel, dragged the cable into a large bow and there was consequently insufficient length to land it. The attempt was abandoned.

For their cable, Magnetic were more careful in testing the insulation of batches of cable than Newall. Coils of cable were hung over the side of the dock and left to soak before testing. They used a new type of battery for insulation testing that was capable of being used at sea. Previously, the test batteries had been lined wooden cases with liquid electrolyte (Daniell cells). The new ‘sand battery’ comprised a moulded gutta-percha case filled with sand saturated with electrolyte, making it virtually unspillable. 144 cells were used in series (around 150 V). Several suspect portions of insulation were removed and repaired, by opening up the iron wire armouring with Spanish windlasses. Newall attempted to lay the Sunderland-made cable, again using the chartered steamer Britannia, in the autumn of 1852. The cable was too taut as she sailed from Portpatrick, resulting in the test instruments being dragged into the sea. Several delays caused by broken iron wires as the cable was laid, resulted in the ship drifting off course and running out of cable and this attempt too was abandoned.

Magnetic were successful with a new cable in 1853 over the same route, with Newall this time using the chartered Newcastle collier William Hutt. This was a six-core cable and heavier than the 1852 cable, weighing seven tons per mile. At over 180 fathoms (330 m) down, it was the deepest cable laid to that date. Repairs to the cable in 1861 required 128 splices. Tests on pieces of retrieved cable found that the copper wire used was very impure, containing less than 50% copper, despite the Gutta Percha Company specifying 85%.

The Magnetic’s telegraph system differed from other telegraph companies. They favoured underground cables rather than wires suspended on poles. This system was problematic because of the limitations of insulation materials available at the time, but the Magnetic was constrained by the wayleaves owned by other companies on better routes. They were also unique in not using batteries which were required on other systems. Instead the operator generated the necessary power electromagnetically. The coded message was sent by the operator moving handles which moved coils past a permanent magnet thus generating telegraph pulses.

The Magnetic laid the first submarine telegraph cable to Ireland and developed an extensive telegraph network there. They had a close connection with the Submarine Telegraph Company and for a while had a monopoly on underwater, and hence, international communication. They also closely cooperated with the London District Telegraph Company who provided a cheap telegram service in London. The Magnetic was amongst the first to employ women as telegraph operators.

The English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company (which was also known as the Magnetic) was established by John Brett in 1850. John Pender also had an interest and Charles Tilston Bright was the chief engineer. The company’s initial objective was to connect Britain with Ireland following the success of the Submarine Telegraph Company in connecting England with France with the first ocean cable to be put in service. The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company was formed in 1857 in Liverpool through a merger of the English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the British Telegraph Company (originally known as the British Electric Telegraph Company).

The main competitor of the Magnetic was the Electric Telegraph Company, later, after a merger, the Electric and International Telegraph Company (the Electric for short) founded by William Fothergill Cooke. By the end of the 1850s, the Electric and Magnetic companies were virtually a cartel in Britain. In 1859, the Magnetic moved its headquarters from Liverpool to Threadneedle Street in London, in recognition that they were no longer a regional company. They shared these premises with the Submarine Telegraph Company.

The company had a close relationship with the Submarine Telegraph Company who laid the first cable to France and many subsequent submarine telegraph cables to Europe. From about 1857, the Magnetic had an agreement with them that all their submarine cables were to be used only with the landlines of the Magnetic. The Magnetic also had control of the first cable to Ireland. This control of international traffic gave them a significant advantage in the domestic market.

Another company with a close relationship was the London District Telegraph Company (the District), formed in 1859. The District provided a cheap telegram service within London only. They shared headquarters and directors with the Magnetic. The Magnetic installed their lines and trained their staff in return for the District passing on traffic for the Magnetic outside London.

The Magnetic founded its own press agency. It promoted its agency by offering lower rates to customers who used it than the rates for customers who wanted connections to rival agencies. In 1870, The Magnetic, along with several other telegraph companies including the Electric, were nationalised under the Telegraph Act 1868 and the company wound up. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company · Catalogue Irish History Three – From Famine to Free State · Irish History – Rare · Irish History of Engineering · Irish History of the Telegraph · Magnetic Telegraph Company or the Magnetic · Science · Science – Rare · Technology – Rare · Technology & Engineering – Rare · Telegraph in 19th century Ireland
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 32201AB

EUR 1.280,--