The Sir John Pender Trophy ?

About 4 years ago I was sent this photograph by an ex-colleague who claims that it was the Sir John Pender Trophy. He believed that it was awarded for some aspect of cable laying, that it was solid silver and had cable routes marked in inlaid gold.

It seems that it had been brought to his attention by a dealer in antiques who knowing of his interests in submarine telegraphy went on to tell him that it had just been sold in Tehran for £1million !

I had forgotten all about it until I came across the photo the other day...............I am not particularly interested but thought that it might be of interest to those researching history of the ETCo........................

Don't tell me it's sitting in the PK archive ! Perhaps, however, there are better photos and something about its history ?

Allan

Traffic on the 1858 transatlantic telegraph cable

I have plotted above the number of words received ( i.e. read and understood) at each end of the cable from August 5th, the day it was landed in each country, through to the 1st of September 1858.The traffic west to east clearly got off to a better start and was of higher volume than in the other direction.

There is a lot more to this story which I hope to publish shortly but one thing is worth thinking about...................Note the traffic levels before and after 'the gap' at the 18th August which was the date that Whitehouse was recalled to London, dismissed and replaced by William Thomson on 19th August.

When was it might we suppose that Whitehouse blew-up the cable with his "giant induction coils"........?

Highways of the Empire

This would be a great find, if it could be found! In a report of the ETC's Ordinary General Meeting for June 1925, the chairman John Denison-Pender referred to a promotional film that the company that had been shown on its stand at the British Empire Exhibition, the year before. Called "Highways of the Empire", it shows "cable manufacture, cable laying and repairing, and transmission".

I've checked on the BFI catalogue and it's not there so maybe it's at PTM?

Richard