A photograph from 1896 showing Wilshaw (far left) with his family. He was 17 years old and already working for the Eastern Telegraph Company.

EDWARD WILSHAW JOINED the Eastern Telegraph company at the age of 14 in 1894. He progressed through the company and was appointed general manager and secretary of Imperial and International Communications when it was formed in 1929. He was made joint managing director of Cable & Wireless and became chairman in July 1936. His long career with the company did not end until December 1946, when Cable & Wireless was nationalised. Wilshaw died in 1967.

An extract from Wilshaw’s Farewell Message to the Staff of Cable & Wireless, published in ‘The Zodiac’: "In that solemn moment of midnight you and I will part company after 53 years association. Some of you will regret the passing of the old order and some look eagerly forward to the new. But we can all take pride in what has been accomplished. Your work and mine in those years has carried on the beginnings of the pioneer, welded them into a unified wholeÉ Our service has never stood higher in fame and honour. At such a moment the state thought fit to take controlÉ"	A cartoon of Sir Edward Wilshaw published in a review of the company’s war history ‘The Thin Red Lines’ by Charles Graves.	Sir Edward Wilshaw addressed the staff in the film ‘It’s Up to You’, which stressed the importance of each individual’s contribution to the smooth running of communications in wartime.

See Also
Eastern Telegraph Company Formation of Cable & Wireless Nationalisation Chairmen Second World War