MELBOURNE, VIC. — Canadian-born Samuel Walker McGowan is credited with bringing the telegraph technology to Australia. Lured by the opportunities created by the discovery of gold in Victoria, McGowan arrived in Melbourne in 1853.
Although isolated from telegraph technology in America and limited by a lack of equipment and suitable component manufacturing firms in Australia, McGowan succeeded in opening up the first telegraph line in Australia on March 3, 1854. It ran from Melbourne to Williamstown.
The network of telegraph lines quickly spread throughout Victoria, and then to Adelaide, South Australia. In 1861, the first electric telegraph in Queensland was transmitted between Brisbane and Ipswich.
On November 6, 1861, Brisbane was linked by telegraph to New South Wales, allowing transmission of telegraphs also to Victoria and South Australia.
