History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Biographies/Samuel Walker McGowan

Samuel Walker McGowan

Samuel Walker McGowan was the eldest son of the late Mr. Samual McGowan, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and was born on January 4, 1829. He was educated at the Midland District Grammar School, Kingston, and subsequently studied for the legal profession, but owing to the death of his father in 1847, he abandoned law in favour of science. He became a pupil of the late Professor Morse, the inventor of the Morse system of telegraphy, and under him made himself thoroughly acquainted with the whole of the details of the working of the electric telegraph. He subsequently widened his experience by accepting engagements with several telegraph companies in Canada and the United States. In 1852, when the news of the gold discoveries in Victoria had begun to be circulated, Mr. McGowan, acting on the advice of his old instructor, Professor Morse, determined to venture to Australia. At the suggestion of the same eminent authority he decided to bring with him to the colonies a complete equipment of telegraph instruments and a first-class electrician. The voyage to Australia was made in the ship Glance, and after a somewhat lengthy passage Mr. McGowan landed in Melbourne early in the year 1853. No telegraph then existed in the colony, and Mr. McGowan, appreciating the value of establishing communication between the goldfields and Melbourne, opened negotiations with a few influential capitalists with the view of floating a company to erect lines between Sandhurst and Ballarat and Melbourne, and subsequently to the capitals of the adjoining colonies. When the venture appeared to have every chance of a successful issue the Government intervened. At first disinclined to accept the responsibility of availing themselves of the discoveries of Professor Morse, they at length recognised their great utility and worth. Mr. McGowan and his fellow speculators were then informed that should they form a company their application for authority to build lines would be resisted to the utmost. At the same time overtures were made to Mr McGowan to join the public service. Finally Governor Latrobe solicited an interview with him, and at the meeting offered to give him control of the state system of telegraphs if he would accept an engagement from the Government. With nothing but the prospect of great opposition from the authorities if he did not agree to their terms, Mr. McGowan after a few days' deliberation signified to His Excellency his willingness to accept state employ. In the meantime the Government had issued tenders for the construction of a line of telegraph between Williamstown and Melbourne, and a contract was entered into by Mr. McGowan to complete the work, which he did to the satisfaction of the authorities. To him, therefore, belongs the honour of having not only been one of the first men in Victoria to direct public attention to the immense possibilities of telegraphy, but also of having taken the first step to bring the system into operation in the colony, if not in the whole of Australia. The line from Williamstown was completed in January, 1854, and thrown open to the use of the public in March of the same year. The Government, however, could not legally charge for the transmission of messages until after the passage of the Electric Telegraph Bill, the second reading which was moved on March 31 of that year by the then Attorney-General, Sir William F. Stawell. It was at this time that the control of the new department was vested in Mr. McGowan, to whom it was a matter of great pride that he should have been thus intimately associated with its creation. From 1854 until 1869, Mr. McGowan acted as superintendent of telegraphs, and it was under his personal supervision and direction that the majority of the lines radiating from Melbourne to every part of the colony were constructed. When in 1869 the Government decided, for the purpose of promoting the efficiency of the Postal and Telegraph departments, to unite them under the control of one permanent head, Mr. McGowan was given the position of inspector of post and telegraph services, and superintending officer of tele-graph construction. This office was held by him until July, 1883, when, on the transference of Mr. T. W. Jackson to the vacant commissionership of audit, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general. He continued to act in that capacity until the beginning of 1886, when, in consequence of ill health and his long and efficient service, he was granted extended leave of absence to enable him to visit Europe and America. The Government, in view of his practical knowledge of electricity, instructed him while abroad to collect all available data relating to recent inventions in telegraphy and telephony. Letters of credit were furnished to him and with these at his disposal he was enabled not only to visit the state establishments of Great Britain and of several of the continental nations, but also to inspect the telephone systems conducted by private enterprise in the new and the old world. When the negotiations for the purchase of the business of the Victorian Telephone Exchange Company were abruptly terminated, the agent-general was instructed to communicate with Mr. McGowan, who was then in the counties, as to the best system of telephone communication inspected by him while abroad. Mr. McGowan proceeded to London, where he had several interviews with the agent-general on the subject. He finally sailed from England for Melbourne about the beginning of March. Mr. McGowan during his absence not only visited England, Scotland, Ireland and the chief cities on the Continent, but he also made an extended tour through the United States and Canada. An account of journeying, together with an interesting statement of the result of his inquiries relative to recent developments in electricity as applied to the working of telegraphs and telephones, and of his interviews with Sir George Stephens, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, Mr. Pender, chairman of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company, and other celebrities, appeared in the columns of The Argus of April 12. The mass of information collected by Mr. McGowan was being framed by him, at the time he was seized with his fatal illness, into a report for presentation to the Postmaster-General. It is a national loss that his labours in this respect should have been unfinished, because they would have embodied the observations of one of the most skilled experts in telegraphic matters south of the equator. Mr. McGowan was married on June 30, 1857, to the eldest daughter of the late Major H. W. Benson, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He left a widow and four children — two daughters and two sons. The eldest daughter was married to Mr. W. L. Lempriere, of Sydney; and his eldest son, Mr. Samuel Benson McGowan, practised as a solicitor near Gembrook. His second daughter accompanied S. W. McGowan and Mrs. McGowan to England. The news of his death was received with great regret by the Postmaster-General, the officials of the Postal department, and by a large circle of friends.

A comprehensive biography of Samuel Walker McGowan has not yet been prepared, however the following resources have been assembled in preparation:

• Transcriptions and Notes - Samuel Walker McGowan - More than 10 transcriptions and notes

• Photos, QSL cards and other graphics - Samuel Walker McGowan - Nothing uploaded as yet

• Frank Randell Bradley's 1934 article on the History of the Electric Telegraph in Australia - Essentially complete excepting formatting

• B. McMahon's 1939 article on "The Early History of the Telegraph Electrical Society, Melbourne"

• Work-in-progress of Wikipedia Article on Samuel Walker McGowan - Not yet started

In the National Library of Australia's Trove website, more than 200 articles (Newspapers & Gazettes) have been tagged as "Samuel Walker McGowan" (search publictag:Samuel Walker McGowan)

A search in Trove on "Samuel Walker McGowan" and "S. W. McGowan" identifies more than 200 articles, the majority of which refer to Samuel Walker McGowan, those tagged to date are a quick review to identify the most important for this Wikibook. Articles transcribed for Notes are tagged: "!Wikibooks - McGowan". Articles reviewed and considered either duplicates of other articles or not of sufficient importance for inclusion are tagged: "!Wikibooks - McGowan Not"