“Europe and America are united by Telegraph”

On 16 August 1858 Queen Victoria sent a telegraph message to US President James Buchanan.

The message took 16 hours to reach its destination. This is in comparison to a mailed letter which would have taken at least 10 days to arrive by ship.

The telegraph cable that allowed these early messages to be sent was between Valentia Island in Ireland, and Bull Arm in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Newfoundland had been chosen as an endpoint due to it’s proximity to Europe. The cable was laid by the USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon. – Admiralty Museum.

“It is impossible, in truth, to estimate the beneficial effects of the extension of the telegraph throughout the world; but it is clear it will be bonds of peace between foreign nations, and an advance towards the unity of mankind. ” – Bristol Mirror Saturday 21 August 1858.

Only a few weeks after its first message between the Queen and the President, the cable from Valentia to Bull Arm failed. It wasn’t until 1866, when the SS Great Eastern laid a new cable from Ireland to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, that reliable transatlantic telegraph communications were established. – Admiralty Museum

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