For this, all his legal and civil rights were forfeit, and he worked his passage to Sydney, where his knowledge of the telephone system made him a useful employee.
He entered the New South Wales Telegraph Department as instrument fitter to assist in the equipment of the operating room in the Sydney Post-Office, which was under construction.
He built and installed the instruments for the first telephonic communication in South Australia, conducted for the Post-office Department on Christmas Day, 1877.
[1] He supervised the laying of the submarine cables from Edithburgh to Trowbridge Island in 1881 and from the Althorpes to Cape Spencer in 1886.
He also played a prominent part in the wireless experiments carried out by Sir Charles Todd and Professor Bragg between Adelaide and Henley Beach in 1887.