EV-0248 — Marconi in Wales, April–July 1897: the contemporary Welsh press record (Lavernock, Flat Holm, Brean Down)

page · Updated 2026-10-24T08:09:08 · Original source

EV IDEV-0248
TitleMarconi in Wales, April–July 1897: the contemporary Welsh press record
Date of document26 April – 23 July 1897 (ten reports)
Typepress
Evidence labelPRESS REPORTS (public online copies, OCR)
Repository / reference
  • Evening Express, 26 Apr 1897, p.2: Marconi to come to Cardiff “in a few weeks” (article); Weekly Mail, 1 May 1897, p.4 (article).
  • Evening Express, 15 May 1897, p.4: “Marconi invention tested at Lavernock” (article). This is the cutting catalogued as EV-0011. Same text in the Western Mail, 15 May 1897, p.6 (article) and the Weekly Mail, 22 May 1897, p.8 (article).
  • South Wales Echo, 17 May 1897, p.2, “The Man About Town” (article).
  • South Wales Echo, 20 May 1897, p.3, “The Marconi experiments” (article).
  • Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 21 May 1897, p.4 (article).
  • South Wales Echo, 27 May 1897, p.4, “First wireless telegram” (article).
  • South Wales Daily Post, 5 Jun 1897, p.3: Preece’s Royal Institution lecture (article).
  • Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 9 Jul 1897, p.2: interview with Preece (article).
  • Y Negesydd, 23 Jul 1897, p.1, “Pellebru heb wifrau” (Welsh) (article).
StatusREAD (public online copies; OCR read in full). VERIFIED as contemporary reports.
ProvenanceFound (Welsh Newspapers Online search), 19 Oct 2026, while adding the Marconi / Williams / Great House stories to bpvsbuckler.bucklerfamily.estate.
Related evidenceEV-0011 (the cutting) · Media Gallery (Flat Holm photograph, 13 May 1897) · storyboard scenes May 1897, 13 May, 18 May

Quotation (verbatim; obvious OCR letter errors corrected only): “For the purposes of the experiments, Mr. Williams (of the engineering department, Cardiff) fixed upon Lavernock Point a pole 120 feet high, with a zinc cylinder at the summit … The experiments on Tuesday were not so successful as might have been desired, but on Wednesday and Thursday the results were most satisfactory. On Friday afternoon there was a semi-public demonstration” (Evening Express, 15 May 1897). “Sent from Lavernock Point through a kite at an elevation of 220ft., and received at Brean Down, May 18th, 1897 … (Signed) G. MARCONI.” (South Wales Echo, 27 May 1897). “With Mr Preece and Mr Gavey he has this week been at work on Brean Down … Work is still progressing at Lavernock, and will be continued for a few days longer” (South Wales Echo, 20 May 1897). “Marconi only left England on Monday” (Preece, Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 9 Jul 1897).

Fits with: Fahie’s History of Wireless Telegraphy (1899/1901; SECONDARY): 10 May, Preece’s method repeated; 11–12 May, Marconi’s attempts fail; 13 May, success after the receiver was moved to the beach. The Rotary Club plaque at St Lawrence’s, Lavernock (1947; transcription) gives 11 May (Flat Holm) and 18 May (Brean Down).

Lead: The engineer “Mr. Williams”: Post Office establishment books and staff lists for the Cardiff engineering district, 1897 (BT Archives, POST 59 / POST 58), and the 1901 census. Marconi’s lodging in May 1897: Kemp’s diaries and Marconi’s papers (Bodleian Library, Marconi Archives). SOURCE PENDING.

Cuts against: The sources disagree on 11 or 13 May for the first success and on the direction of the Brean Down messages.

Proves: Marconi’s trials at Lavernock Point, Flat Holm and Brean Down, May 1897, with the Post Office (Preece, Gavey, Fardo); a Post Office engineer named Williams of Cardiff put up the Lavernock pole; the first Brean Down tape is dated 18 May 1897; Marconi left England on Monday 5 July 1897.

Link to Great House: evidence being added (Sion Buckler, request to The National Archives, 16 Jul 2026).

Catalogued 19 Oct 2026.

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