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EV-0256 — George Kemp’s diary, 6–15 May 1897 (Bodleian MS. Marconi 89, extracts quoted by G. R. M. Garratt): Lavernock pole “107 ft”, Flat Holm “110 ft”, apparatus left “at Penarth”; no mention of Great House Farm

EV IDEV-0256
TitleGeorge Kemp’s diary, 6–15 May 1897 (Bodleian MS. Marconi 89, extracts quoted by G. R. M. Garratt): Lavernock pole “107 ft”, Flat Holm “110 ft”, apparatus left “at Penarth”; no mention of Great House Farm
Date of document6–15 May 1897
Typediary (secondary quotation)
Evidence labelSECONDARY QUOTATION (diary itself not seen)
Repository / referenceBodleian Library, Oxford, MS. Marconi 89, “Expanded extracts from diaries”, 1897–98 (catalogue read 20 Oct 2026; not online). Quoted in G. R. M. Garratt, The Early History of Radio (IEE, 1994), via The Diary Junction
StatusSOURCE PENDING (diary not seen; free reading-room inspection possible)
ProvenanceFree online quotation and Bodleian catalogue, 20 Oct 2026.
Related evidenceEV-0248 (Marconi in Wales, 1897 press) · EV-0011

Quotation (verbatim): 6 May 1897: “Proceeded to Lavernock to see mast … Fixed a wire atop the 107 ft pole”. 7 May: Flat Holm “110 ft pole”; “Slept at a small house owned by the person in charge of the Cremation House”. 15 May: apparatus “leaving it at Penarth”.

Fits with: A day-by-day record of the Lavernock work by Marconi’s assistant; it fixes where the apparatus and the team were on given days.

Cuts against: The extracts give the pole as 107 ft, not 120 ft, and mention Penarth and Flat Holm but not Great House Farm or a Mr Williams. They do not support the farm’s link to the 1897 work; nor do they rule it out (extracts only, c.1930 expanded version).

Notes: Reading-room inspection of MS. Marconi 89 is free; it is Sion’s decision whether to visit.

Catalogued by Cedwyn editors, 20 Oct 2026, from research of 16–20 Oct 2026 (free online sources only).

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