CONNECTING THE COLONIES

The Overland Telegraph's role in Australia's Communication Revolution

presented by Richard Venus

The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned 3200 kilometres (2000 miles) between Darwin, and Adelaide.  Completed in 1872, it allowed fast communication between Australia and the rest of the world.

Richard Venus is a retired electrical engineer with an interest in researching and writing about engineering heritage. He has served as chairman of Engineering Heritage SA; deputy chair of the national body, Engineering Heritage Australia; and Vice President of the History Council of SA. In 2015 he received Engineers Australia’s John Monash Medal, which is awarded to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to engineering heritage in Australia over a considerable period.

A return to post-graduate study (in Archaeology) sharpened his research skills into a practice he calls “forensic heritology”.