In the first story of a two-part series, Derek James retells the history of the telephone arriving in Norfolk.
It was the sound of music that heralded the arrival in Norfolk of something we take for granted today… a telephone.
If at first, you don't succeed...
Readers of our newspapers in December of 1877 would have spotted an advertisement for a strange event at the old Victoria Hall in Norwich.
Tickets cost a couple of shillings to hear a gentleman by the name of Professor Barrett give a lecture called “The TELEPHONE in Norwich.”
He brought with him a pair of Bell telephones, which were on loan from Graham Bell, then touring the country. The plan was to take one of them to Cromer… and make a call.
The line from Norwich to Cromer was a single wire with four spurs off it at Coltishall, North Walsham, Aylsham and Hanworth.
Prof. Barrett spoke about the history of communication from the earliest telegraph systems and showed how to make a pair of telephones at the cost of a few pence which were being sold for £25.
Each phone required a tooth-powder box, a small bar magnet, a disc of tinned iron and some wire.
At the end of his lecture he tried to speak to Cromer on the telephone but all he – and Mr J.J. Colman, who presided over the meeting – could hear was a distant mumbling.
The Head Postmaster in Norwich, Mr Isley, explained that the line was not very well insulated (it had snowed that morning, followed by a thaw) and this was blamed for the failure to speak to Cromer where more than 40 disappointed people left the small office where they had been waiting to speak to Norwich.
Those telephones would never catch on. Would they?
Connecting to the capital
Well, almost a year later, a trial was made over the telephone line belonging to J & J Colman, between Norwich and their offices in London.
The line was along the Great Eastern Railway track and was 115 miles long.
Professor Bell’s representative, Mr Adams from America, was in Norwich for the experiment. It all began badly with crackling and bubbling sounds and the stormy weather didn’t help but then…
Mr C Noble, a member of the Carrow Works Band, played a cornet solo in the Norwich office and, yes, the wonderful music could be plainly heard in London.
IT WORKED!
After the experiments staff at the Great Eastern Railways were treated to a celebration dinner at Colman’s but… there was more trouble ahead.
The Bell representatives claimed the receivers used were an infringement of their patent.
Edison had to design an entirely new receiver. This was done within a couple of months. It was known as the “loud-speaking telephone.”
When George B Shaw wrote about this telephone a year or two later he said that it took words whispered into the mouthpiece and shouted them across the room.
By early 1880 the Bell and Edison interests joined forces and formed the United Telephone Company… times really were changing.
And on December 28 1880 there were two separate advertisements on the front page of the Eastern Daily Press.
One from the Postmaster General stated the rates for telephone service were £14.10s for subscribers living within half a mile from the telegraph office and £18 for those between half and one mile away from the office. Hefty sums.
This was accompanied by one from the United Telephone Co., saying they were the patent holders and proceedings would be taken against anyone using Bell or Edison apparatus not rented from the United Telephone Company.
What next? Watch this space.
Look out for a lovely book called The First 100 Years of Telephones: Viewed from Norwich produced by Eric Clayton, with great support from our Archant libraries, published in the summer of 1980. It is fascinating.
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