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William Cooke
Slide 1
Portrait of William Cooke
William Cooke was one of the first men to see the commercial possibilities in Telegraphy.
Initially the business partner of Charles Wheatstone, he went on to be one of the founders of the Eastern Telegraph Company.
Sound recording explaining William Cooke was born in 1806 at Ealing. After a conventional education at Durham and Edinburgh he served briefly in the East India Company's army and then travelled around Europe earning money from sculpting anatomical models.
Slide 2
Diagram of Cooke's first Telegraph.
Sound clip explaining it was during this time, in March 1836, that he saw what was described as an electro-telegraphic experiment by a Professor Moncke at Heidelberg. Despite having had no scientific background Cooke produced his first basic telegraph within a few weeks using three needles to send a combination of 27 different signals along six wires.
Slide 3
Portraits of William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
William Cooke and his business partner, Charles Wheatstone. Wheatstone provided Cooke with the scientific knowledge and skill that he himself lacked.
Slide 4
Portrait of William Cooke.
Cooke was knighted in 1866 but despite the fortune he made through telegraphy he died a poor man in 1879, having lost nearly all of his money investing in a Welsh stone quarry.
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