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Kōrero: Colonial and provincial government

First telegram sent on the Cook Strait cable

First telegram sent on the Cook Strait cable

In 1866 an underwater cable linked the North Island with the South Island. The first telegram sent on it, on 26 August, was from the governor in Wellington, congratulating the superintendent and people of Canterbury. The telegraph and cable network helped unify the colony and diminish the separateness of the provinces from each other.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Christchurch Regional Office, Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: CH287, CP81, ICPS 1291/1866

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga (Christchurch Regional Office) must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Malcolm McKinnon, Colonial and provincial government – War, debt and the provinces, 1863 to 1870, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/document/35486/first-telegram-sent-on-the-cook-strait-cable (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Malcolm McKinnon, i tāngia i te 5 April 2012.