Telegraph - Eastern Telegraph Co.
PORTHCURNOW TELEGRAPH STATION (EASTERN TELEGRAPH COMPANY)
Porthcurno is unusually well known for its size because of its history as a major international submarine communications cable station. In the late nineteenth century, the remote beach at Porthcurno became internationally famous as the British termination of early submarine telegraph cables, the first of which was landed in 1870, part of an early international link stretching all the way from the UK to India, which was then a British colony. In 1872 the Eastern Telegraph Company (ETC) Limited was formed which took over the operation of the cables and built a cable office in Porthcurno valley.
- Images from The Sketch Feb 8 1899
ETC and its cable operations expanded through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in 1928 to merge with Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Limited to form Imperial and International Communications Limited which was renamed Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934. Source [1]
- further ETC token information from The Tokens and Checks of Malta by Bob Lyall. publ. 1999 and from "Maltese Tokens - A Collection" by Tony & Jeanette Stivala publ. 2018
The Eastern Telegraph Co. started operations in Malta in the 19th century. The business assets and operations were taken over successively by Cable & Wireless Ltd, Telemalta Corporation and Maltacom. The tokens shown were used in the Eastern Telegraph Co's mess or canteen.
- See also The Evolution of Cable & Wireless, Part 2 [2]
| Telegraph - Eastern Telegraph Company Tokens | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | POR001 | |
| Description | PORTHCURNOW MESS curved around | |
| Rev. | 1d in wreath | |
| Size (mm) | 25.8 | |
| © malj1 | ||
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | POR002 | |
| Description | PORTHCURNOW MESS curved around | |
| Rev. | 2d in wreath | |
| Size (mm) | 25.8 | |
| © malj1 | ||
| Notes | ||
| File:POR003.jpg | ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | POR003 | |
| Description | PORTHCURNOW MESS curved around | |
| Rev. | 3d in wreath | |
| Size (mm) | 26 | |
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | POR004 | |
| Description | PORTHCURNOW MESS curved around | |
| Rev. | 4d in wreath | |
| Size (mm) | 25.8 | |
| © malj1 | ||
| Notes | ||
| File:ETC002.jpg | ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC002 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around ½d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC003 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around 1d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| © T&J Stivala | ||
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC004 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around 2d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| © T&J Stivala | ||
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC005 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around 3d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| © T&J Stivala | ||
| Notes | ||
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC001 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around 4d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| © T&J Stivala | ||
| Notes | Yarwood MMT095 | |
| ||
| Material | Brass | |
| Filename | ETC006 | |
| Description | E.T.C. MESS curved around 6d | |
| Rev. | Blank | |
| Size (mm) | ? | |
| © T&J Stivala | ||
| Notes | ||
