| 1837 |
Patent for Electromagnetic Telegraph by Samuel Morse |
| 1855 |
First Telegraph office opened at Canso |
| 1858 |
First transatlantic cable (Newfoundland) operates for only four weeks |
| 1866 |
Cyrus Field at last has success with a transatlantic cable from Newfoundland
to Ireland. |
| 1874 |
Direct United States Cable Company
set up 30 miles from Canso. Cables laid by the ship "Faraday" from Torbay, Nova Scotia to Rye Beach, New Hampshire
and England via Ballinskelligs in Western Ireland. There were many cable breakages and repairs in its early life. Faraday
station opened at Torbay, Nova Scotia. |
| 1881 |
Western Union set up in Canso. First Western Union cable landed at Dover
Bay, Canso. |
| 1884 |
Commercial Cable Company established at
Hazel Hill. First cables laid by Commercial Cable Company from Hazel Hill to Rockport, Mass (for Boston),
New York and two to Waterville. |
| 1885 |
Post Office (UK) indenture. Licence to lay cable Waterville to Weston-super-Mare [L]. |
| 1887 |
Direct United States Cable re-locate to
Halifax. and the shore ends of their cables brought in there. Many operators from Torbay ended up working for Commercial
Cable and Western Union. |
| 1888 |
Commercial Cable Company office at Hazel
Hill built. |
| 1889 |
Weston Offices for Commercial Cable Company built. |
| 1891 |
Second cable to Weston from Waterville. |
| 1893 |
"World's Columbian Exposition", Chicago.
Click here for Commercial Cable Company brochure. |
| 1894 |
Third Commercial Cable Company cable Hazel Hill to Waterville. |
| 1898 |
Heurtley Magnifier developed (one of
several pre-valve systems for amplifying small cable signals - the Eastern Telegraph Co at Porthcurno had a different
system which they favoured). |
| 1899 |
Fourth Commercial Cable Company cable from Hazel Hill via Horta,
Fayal in the Azores to Waterville. Stone offices at Waterville built. |
| 1900 |
Automatic cable relays installed by Commercial Cable Company
at Hazel Hill (the invention of S G Brown of London). These were not very successful as they passed on signal distortions.
True regenerators that recovered the information and rejected the distortion were not developed until the 1920s
- by Eastern Telegraph at Porthcurno.
By this time 19 transatlantic cables were in operation, four of them Commercial Cable Company. |
| 1905 |
Fifth Commercial Cable Company cable Hazel Hill to Waterville |
| 1909 |
Two original cables Hazel Hill to Waterville diverted at American end
to St John's Newfoundland and extended from there to New York.
It is interesting to note that the charter granted to the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph company in
1856 by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, giving this company exclusive cable landing rights for 50 years
had expired four years before.Commercial Cable Company 25th anniversary.
Click here for brochure produced at the time.
|
| 1910 |
Third cable to Weston from Waterville |
| 1912 |
Titanic sinks |
| 1920 |
E Mullholland joins the company |
| 1923 |
Sixth Commercial Cable Company cable. Hazel Hill to Waterville
vie Azores. Fourth cable to Weston. "of an entirely new type". |
| 1924 |
Loaded cables developed |
| 1926 |
Cables 3 and 5 of the Commercial Cable Company diverted to St
John's Newfoundland as for numbers one and two in 1909. These were at that time the longest runs left in the system
and were shortened in the process, increasing the speed of transmission attainable. |
| 1931 |
Mullholland comes to Weston from Waterville. |
| 1934 |
Hopkinson made superintendent. |
| 1941 |
Pass for Mullholland signed Hopkinson (Weston Museum) |
| 1955 |
Western Union leave Canso permanently. |
| 1956 |
Last cable for Commercial Cable Company brought ashore at Fox
island, near Canso. (I do not know where from.) |
| 1958 |
Hopkinson retires. Mullholland superintendent. (Weston) station goes
fully automatic. |
| 1960 |
Hopkinson dies |
| 1962 |
Weston station closes. Canso Commercial cable station closes. Commercial
Cable operations closed down. |