Join Ramona Elmes as she describes the impact the telegraph had on Victorian life and on her novel The Intimate Words of a Liberated Lady.
Today, I’m excited to share details about the telegraph, a Victorian marvel. In my book, The Intimate Words of a Liberated Lady, a lord and a widow are blackmailed to prevent the man from establishing a telegraph company. My inspiration was the first national telegraph business in England. The Electric Telegraph Company (ETC) was set up in 1845. It wasn’t initially very successful, and some had serious concerns about its use.
William Cooke (1806-1879) and Charles Wheatstone’s (1802-1875) five-needle telegraph. Patented 1837, installed 1839, (19th century).
The telegraph in England, at first, was mainly used to manage the movement of trains along rail lines. Still, there was always a fascination with its potential use in sending near-real-time communication. Two men, William Fothergill Cooke and John Ricardo, moved this idea forward by establishing an organization focused on using the telegraph for people to send messages to each other almost instantaneously across the country.
The telegraph used at the time was a five-needle system. The message would be sent as an electric signal across wires. On the receiving end, the needles would point to the letters of the message, and operators would write it down. ETC’s first main building was located at Founders Court in London. Men and women worked there. In my book, when the company sends its first message, it is a female operator who reveals the text.
Initially, the telegraph was not something that interested the population, mainly due to the cost of sending messages. Still, it did gain national attention when it was used to catch murderer, John Tawell, traveling on a train. A message was passed by the police in Slough to those near Paddington station, sharing his description and that he needed to be arrested. His apprehension fascinated the public.
To me, personally, the telegraph is the internet of the Victorian era. Can you imagine how strange
it must have seemed as one of the first users? I love it!
About the Book
Could a passionate night between a widow and a marquess be this season’s most shocking scandal?
Not if Malcolm, the Marquess of Derry, has anything to say about it. Unfortunately, an enemy set on blackmail has other plans…
Sophia, the Dowager Viscountess of Landers, can’t believe she allowed herself to become embroiled in Derry’s affairs. Who would have thought one indiscretion would lead to so much trouble?
They swear to each other and themselves that their encounter was simply a momentary lapse in judgment, and nothing more. What else could it be? They barely tolerate each other most days.
Yet as the blackmailer becomes bolder and more secrets bring them together, they begin towonder, to their own surprise, if one night is truly enough.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Words-Liberated-Nouveau-Riche-ebook/dp/B0CGWB7Y35
About the Author
Since stealing her first historical romance novel from her mother more than twenty years ago, Ramona Elmes has been all in on the genre. Her infatuation with the historical and steamy stirred her to write her own romances. Ramona loves to write happily ever afters set in the Victorian era. She believes this period makes an exciting backdrop for fast-paced storylines, steamy moments, dramatic endings, and memorable characters.
When not creating ways to entice and torture her characters, she spends her days coordinating her family’s crazy life, refereeing pets, hiking, and eading on her front porch.
Find her here:
Amazon author profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ramona-Elmes/author/B08TTX6TJP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elmes_ramona/
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Website: https://ramonaelmes.com/
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