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

EV ID	EV-0248
Title	Marconi in Wales, April–July 1897: the contemporary Welsh press record
Date of document	26 April – 23 July 1897 (ten reports)
Type	press
Evidence label	PRESS 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).
Status	HELD (public online copies; OCR read in full). VERIFIED as contemporary reports.
Provenance	Found by Tab (Welsh Newspapers Online search), 19 Oct 2026, while adding the Marconi / Williams / Great House stories to bpvsbuckler.bucklerfamily.estate at Sion Buckler’s request (“Find all info from every source”, 19 Oct 2026).
Related evidence	EV-0011 (the cutting) · Media Gallery (Flat Holm photograph, 13 May 1897) · storyboard scenes May 1897, 13 May, 18 May

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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).

Our case; not a finding of any court. Catalogued by Tab for Sion Buckler, 19 Oct 2026.