Marc Fennell

It's not until the next day that the police arrest him for the murder of Sarah Hart.

He protests.

I wasn't in slough, but the sergeant replies, Yes, you were, sir.

You got out of the train, onto a bus, and you gave me sixpence.

And with that, John is put on trial.

The acid in Sarah's system is damning evidence.

John's defense is kind of cornered by it.

And that's when they come up with this wild argument.

So the jury don't buy it.

What did the jury decide to do with Tal?

10,000 people is a lot.

So I'm assuming there's a lot of public interest in the case.

How is it being covered in the newspapers?

The arrest of John and his execution and the hype around it, it really helped the everyday person understand the power of the telegraph.

It captured people's imagination, showed them that sending information faster than a letter on a train or on a horse or by foot can in fact have a huge impact.

So when you look at this, what do you think is the most important thing that changed people's perceptions?

In 1870, the telegraph industry was nationalised and in fact actually became part of the British Post Office.

By 1875, there were cables that linked Britain to America, India, Europe, the Far East, and yes, indeed, as far as Australia.

In England, they likened it, the telegraph system, to a nervous system.

It's funny, we live in an age of instantaneous communication and right now you're in London, I'm in Sydney and we have this easy conversation, which is of course the product of our modern age.