If you’re interested in finding out more about the contribution Greenwich made to the communications revolution, here are some more sources of information:
We have a handy leaflet setting out the history of Enderby Wharf and our case for preserving it. It can be downloaded as a PDF from here. Please feel free to print it out and distribute it.
Other sources of information
www.porthcurno.org.uk — museum in Cornwall where many of the early cables entered the sea, and where the Telcon archives from Enderby Wharf are kept
atlantic-cable.com — detailed history of the early cables and the people who built them
thetelegraphfield.com — history of the site in Ireland where the first Atlantic cable landed
www.seethesites.ca/the-sites/heart’s-content-cable-station.aspx — where the cable landed in Newfoundland
greenwichpeninsulahistory.wordpress.com — the history of the Greenwich Peninsula, including Enderby
greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.co.uk — Greenwich’s huge contribution to our technological history
Greenwich Marsh – the 300 years before the Dome — fascinating account of the industries that were in the area, not just Telcon but also Mowlem and Bessemer as well as makers of penny-farthing bicycles, steam cars and guns. Written in 1999 by Dr Mary Mills. The book is hard to get hold of but is occasionally available on Abe Books
The Victorian Internet — a book by Greenwich-born Tom Standage, digital editor of The Economist, which explains the importance of the international telegraph to the 19th century communications revolution. You can buy it from Amazon here
The Atlantic Telegraph — a complete account of the work to link Europe and America, by William Howard Russell and first published in 1866. It was reprinted by Nonsuch Publishing in 2005 and copies are available via Amazon
The Telcon Story by GL Lawford and LR Nicholson — published by Telcon, the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, in 1950 to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Copies are available on Amazon from a few pounds (but be careful — some sellers ask for several hundred pounds)
There’s a basic history of Enderby Wharf on Wikipedia here
There’s a longer history of the Enderby family on Wikipedia here
Alcatel-Lucent publishes its history here, but you need to scroll down to 1993 to find its acquisition of what was then Standard Telephones & Cables
Grace’s Guide, a site about British industrial history, has information about Telcon, as well as its predecessors, Glass, Elliot and Gutta Percha Co, and its successor companies, Submarine Cables Ltd and then STC. Grace’s Guide brings together indexed contents from a number of sources from 1820 onwards, including pages of two leading magazines, The Engineer and Engineering
