The early telegraph was only really used for business and official messages. Most ordinary people relied chiefly on posted letters to exchange news and views with their friends and families. But telegrams became the channel of last resort for really important and urgent personal news.
The telephone was also slow to make much impact on social and family life - but when it did, the impact was profound.
The telegram became known as a bad news medium, because for the majority of people the only time they received one was to let them know of the death of a close member of family.
During the two World Wars the telegram was used to tell family members if their husbands or sons had died or were missing in action. The arrival of the messenger was greeted with dread.
The telegram was also used to make historic announcements, but again these were often death-related. It was first used in this way to bring the news of the death of Prince Albert in 1861. A telegram was also sent to the current Queen Elizabeth to let her know about the death of her father when she was on tour in Kenya, although the message couldn't be decoded immediately and the news was "confirmed" via a hasty telephone call to England.
At first, the telephone was primarily a resource for businesses, as the high costs otherwise excluded all but the richest members of society from subscribing. It was regarded primarily as a business tool rather than for private chit-chat.
As a result, a flick through telephone books of the time provides an interesting account of the nature of business in the late 19th century.
The National Telephone Company's directory of 1894 shows the businesses that were flourishing during the time. It includes professionals such as lawyers, doctors and Members of Parliament; and businesses such as bottle makers, importers, horse dealers, stables, brewers, distillers, hotels and gas companies. However there were few tradesmen who could afford to be on the phone - although some shops are included, and at least one vicar is connected.
For a small payment entrants could include a line describing their company to solicit extra business - a foretaste of the Yellow Pages to come.
The early telephone reinforced the class divide, with servants and staff expected to answer the telephone on behalf of the master or mistress of the house - and receiving their orders through an internal "house" telephone such as the Metaphone.
By the 1920s, though, the old rigid divide either side of the telephone began to break down in the aftermath of the First World War. Upper class families began to get used to the idea that they might have to answer the telephone for themselves - and so another social barrier came down.
