Thomas J. Wilmot
Thomas J. Wilmot (1851-1904)
1904 Obituary [1]
THOMAS J. WILMOT, superintendent of the Commercial Cable Company's station at Waterville, Ireland, died April 12, after an illness of three weeks.
Born in London, in September, 1851, Mr. Wilmot commenced his telegraph career by entering the service of the Electric and International Telegraph Company in 1866.
In 1874 he entered the service of the Direct United States Cable Company, and in 1884 that of the Commercial Cable Company, in which year he was appointed superintendent of the Boston office of the latter company.
In 1885 he was appointed superintendent of the Commercial Company's main cable station at Waterville, Ireland, which position he held for nineteen years with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers.
Mr. Wilmot was well known in cable circles. He perfected a system of repeating between submarine cables and land lines, but perhaps his most notable achievement was the application of his automatic transmitter to long submarine cables. Many experiments had preceded Mr. Wilmot's in this direction, but they left the proposition discredited in the eyes of cable men who had contended that the human touch was essential to successful long cable signalling. Mr. Wilmot was, however, convinced that this was not so, and he had the satisfaction of demonstrating the soundness of his opinions by producing a thoroughly practical instrument which improved the signals and increased the speed.
He was elected an Associate of this Institution in 1876, and was transferred to the class of Members in 1S86.