ABSTRACT
The practice of electrical engineering in 1860 centred upon telegraphy. Submarine telegraphs, still in their infancy, presented the greatest technological challenges to engineers. Among electrical engineers, a small and close group working at a technological cutting edge, there was a perceptible distance between academic electricians and some of the more empirical engineers. Fleeming Jenkin had chosen an inauspicious time to leave Newall and Liddell, for the hopes of high returns from his association with Thomson rested upon the agreement to license their instruments to the Red Sea and India Telegraph Company. For Jenkin there was no such financial cushion, and the uncertainty surrounding the Red Sea scheme during 1860 caused him great anxiety. Jenkin had been hoping to try out his key on the Red Sea cable itself, and by demonstrating its effectiveness convince the directors that his financial argument was sound.
