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<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>This
subject is as you say off topic but it's an interesting question.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Generally until the end of the 18th century spreading the news would
depend on how fast somebody could travel on horseback. However it's
worth remembering that there were other ways of sending messages using
beacons. The oldest identifiable example in Britain is probably
the chain of Roman signal stations following what is now the line of the
A66 road between Bowes and Brough. But beacons are only
useful if you know in advance what they signify (like an invasion) and the death
of Cromwell, or a king or queen, wouldn't lend itself to this kind of
communication.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
first more sophisticated way of sending messages was Claude Chappe's semaphore
telegraph system in France, developed from the 1790s onwards. By 1794 this
was capable of sending news of the successful conclusion of a siege at
Le Quesnoy to Paris, over a distance of 210km, in an hour. In Britain
the Admiralty noted the usefulness of this and in 1795 it began to set up its
own system, with lines of communication from London to Deal, Portsmouth,
Plymouth and (later on) Yarmouth. This used a less efficient, though
still useful, system with a set of six shutters which could be opened and
closed in various combinations. There is a link here with change ringing
in that one account incorrectly credits the shutters as having 720
different settings! The name "Telegraph Hill" is often found marking
the location of the relay stations though a few of them were on
existing buildings, like the Clock Tower in St Albans.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>All
these systems were rendered obsolete in the 1840s with the introduction of the
electric telegraph. There's a detailed account of them in Geoffrey
Wilson's <U>The Old Telegraphs</U> (Phillimore, 1976).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Peter
Rivet</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=343044318-24102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com]<B>On
Behalf Of </B>Sue Marsden<BR><B>Sent:</B> 24 October 2009 16:37<BR><B>To:</B>
bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Bell Historians] Spreading
the news<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><SPAN style="DISPLAY: none"> </SPAN>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P>This has no obvious bell connections (yet) but can anyone tell me
how<BR>quickly news would have spread in the mid 17th Century? specifically
I<BR>am wondering how fast news of Oliver Cromwell's death would
have<BR>reached rural villages, say 200 miles from
London.<BR>TIA<BR>SEM<BR></P></DIV><!--End group email --></BODY></HTML>