In 1850 the fi rst land-to-land submarine telegraph cable was laid between Dover and Calais and by 1856 Europe was successfully connected to America.1 Laying successful undersea telegraph cables was no small undertaking, and to create a connection that consistently worked was technically complex, environmentally problematic and expensive. As the multitude of companies that sprang around this new high-speed communications system could testify, it was fi nancially rewarding. As an investment, submarine telegraphy could off er its shareholders huge rewards if a company had a consistently workable cable system in the right locations. All of that rested upon a committed and trained staff that was well managed. No one did it better than the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies (hereafter cited as E&ATC).2