after nearly 20 years at Allora. The community held a public farewell for Henry at the Allora Town Hall and he was presented with a purse of sovereigns. By the time of the transfer to Emerald, Henry's family were mostly grown and his own health was failing. Only his wife relocated with him, and when he died in 1910, there was little connection with Emerald and she relocated to the larger provincial centre of Toowoomba, where she died in 1932. Telegraphy was a major part of the activities of any rural post office and there can be no doubt that Sidney learned morse code and telegraphy with his father. The Postmaster-General's department discouraged any staff experiments in wireless after federation. But from 1897, news of Marconi's succession of wireless telegraphy achievements spanning greater and greater distances, filled the newspapers of the day. At this time many private experimenters were operating without licences and in a remote location such as Allora, the temptations to experiment would have been strong. Telegraphist The Commonwealth of Australia Gazette records Jeffryes as being employed on a temporary basis from 26 March 1909 as a Telegraphist at Sydney for a period of three months. This appointment was renewed again June 1909, September 1909, and finally December 1909. However, mere telegraphy did not offer the excitement or pecuniary rewards of a wireless operator of the day and his career progressed. Wireless training In the late 1800s, fitting of wireless equipment on the great steamships carrying mail between Great Britain and Australia was becoming commonplace and following Australia's belated establishment of a network of coastal stations from 1910, many of the larger coastal vessels around Australia were also fitted out. The Australasian Wireless Co., Ltd. won the contracts with the Australian Government to establish a network of coastal wireless stations around Australia using Telefunken transmitters and receivers. This gave the firm a strong marketing edge in the supply of equipment to local shipping to utilise the coastal station network. Frequently the sale package also included provision of skilled personnel to operate and maintain the equipment. While the Marconi Telefunken College of Telegraphy as a formal training facility had not yet been established, the company did undertake internal training of potential operators. Jeffryes is reported as having qualified as a wireless operator with Australasian Wireless Co., Ltd. Coastal shipping In October 1911, Jeffryes had a small taste of fame