History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Biographies/Henry Sutton

Henry Sutton
Henry Sutton was a prominent inventor and early wireless experimenter based in Melbourne and Ballarat, Victoria. Among numerous inventions attributed to Sutton are telephone types, telephony systems, wireless telegraphy systems, wireless telephony systems. He is recorded experimenting in wireless technology from as early as 1892 when Victoria Post and Telegraphs had no formal licensing regime for wireless. After Federation and the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1905, which brought wireless clearly within the remit of the Commonwealth, Sutton failed to apply for a licence. The attention of the PMG Department caused much grief to Sutton and significantly impacted on the development of his wireless related inventions. He was finally granted a provisional licence in 1910 and continued with his experiments until his untimely passing in 1912 at the dawn of Balsillie's Australian coastal wireless network.

A comprehensive biography of Henry Sutton has not yet been prepared here, however the following resources have been assembled in preparation:


 * Transcriptions and Notes - Henry Sutton - More than 30 transcriptions and notes


 * Photos, QSL cards and other graphics - Henry Sutton - Nothing uploaded as yet


 * Bradley's 1934 article on the History of the Electric Telegraph in Australia - Essentially complete excepting formatting


 * Work-in-progress of Wikipedia Article on Henry Sutton - Just started

In the National Library of Australia's Trove website, more than 250 articles (Newspapers & Gazettes, Journals and Magazines, Books, People) have been tagged as "XLM - Henry Sutton" (search publictag:XLM - Henry Sutton)

A search in Trove on "Henry Sutton", "H. Sutton" or Sutton Wireless identifies several hundred articles, many of which refer to Henry Sutton, those tagged to date are a quick review to identify the most important for this Wikibook. Articles transcribed for Notes are tagged: "Wikibooks - Sutton". Articles reviewed and considered either duplicates of other articles or not of sufficient importance for inclusion are tagged: "Wikibooks - Sutton Not"

The most comprehensive biography of Henry Sutton to date (and unlikely to be surpassed) is the 2018 book by Lorayne Branch "Henry Sutton, The Innovative Man" and all interested in Australia's early wireless history are commended to seek it out and put aside a week for reading.