About the project
The Connecting Cornwall project began with the aim of transforming the understanding of some of the key aspects of telecommunications history by drawing on the underused and exciting archival material at the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum. As a team, we focused on many aspects of the lives and careers of the telegraphers who trained at Porthcurno and who went on to be stationed at the global telegraph networks of the Eastern Telegraph Company and its related companies.
The relationship between museum specialists and academics proved dynamic and their research has become the bedrock of an exhibition which opened at the museum on 28th June 2010. This research has also become the kernel of the online Connecting Cornwall exhibition that you can find under the Cornwall, Business, Technology, Empire, the Exotic and the First World War tabs.
The history of submarine telegraphy will never be quite the same again.
Online exhibition
You can browse and search the data from the exhibition from our online exhibition.
Connecting Cornwall
Nerve Centre of Empire: Expanding Frontiers 1870 – 1918
In 1870, the cable linking Britain to her empire arrived at Porthcurno. It was met on the beach by engineers and telegraphers from around Britain. Technology and business would go hand in hand to create a global communications network.
The British Empire increasingly relied on submarine cables as they began to snake around the earth. Telegraphers were stationed at new and exciting exotic locations. They brought a little piece of home with them wherever they went. Sport and amateur dramatics helped to keep the men happy. The blue print for this way of life was learnt at Porthcurno and shipped around the globe. This was not necessarily an easy life. Men were often isolated and exposed to danger or disease.
As the submarine cable business grew, technology became increasingly important. Being efficient meant riches for the company. Competition from other submarine cable companies was soon thwarted. The First World War was a watershed. As the world rapidly changed, submarine telegraphy was unable to stand still. Wireless telegraphy slowly began to make headway in the telecommunications industry. Cornwall, once the home of submarine cables, saw wireless experiments on the Lizard. This further strengthened the importance of Cornwall in the history of telecommunications.
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