RadCom April 2024, Vol. 100, No. 4

April 2024 71 Feature of the British Post Office. Preece expressed true interest and confidently pledged his support for the Italian inventor, which was to prove vital in the months and years to come. It was also at this stage that Marconi came into contact with a remarkable man in the person of George Kemp, who, on leaving the Royal Navy, became laboratory assistant to Sir William Preece, and would later become Marconi’s right-hand man. Marconi gave the first demonstration of his invention to the British government in July 1896 and later, in March 1897, he transmitted Morse- code signals over a distance of just over 3.5 miles between locations on Salisbury Plain, which led to him being granted British Patent number 12039 entitled ‘Improvements in Transmitting Electrical impulses and Signals, and in Apparatus therefor’, this being the first patent for a radio- wave based communication system. Two months later, in May, Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea, when a signal was transmitted from Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel to Lavernock Point in Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan. The message, which had travelled 3.7 miles, simply read: “Are you ready?” (see Figure 2 ).  Lloyd’s of London Lloyd’s of London had an established signal station on Rathlin to keep track of shipping. This used a series of signals, semaphore when weather permitted and carrier pigeon when it didn’t, to relay messages to Lloyd’s in London. However, neither method was particularly reliable. Even the carrier pigeons were prone to the fog that often blankets Rathlin Sound, and prey to the hawks that inhabited the island. In the summer of 1898 Lloyds commissioned Marconi’s newly-established ‘Wireless Telegraph and Signalling Company’ to establish a wireless link between Rathlin and Ballycastle on the mainland, to report on the passage of ships and their cargoes through the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, many of which were insured by Lloyds underwriters. The vessels passed close to Rathlin on their return journey across the Atlantic to dock in Belfast, Liverpool or Glasgow. Marconi saw this ‘experiment’ as way to prove the commercial viability of the new technology, and a gateway into Naval contracts. Marconi made a preliminary survey, but the work was given to his, now, right-hand man, George Kemp, who hired Edward Glanville to assist him, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (see Figure 3 ). The story behind Marconi’s early departure from this endeavour is equally interesting. A royal connection Marconi had been called upon by Queen Victoria who was at her Osborne estate on the Isle of Wight. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, had slipped and fallen whilst on the Royal Yacht, at anchor in Cowes Bay, and was compelled to remain on board whilst he recovered. The Prince, who had already taken a deep interest in wireless telegraphy, thought that it might be possible to establish communications in this way between the yacht and Osborne House, where the Queen was staying. Happy for the chance of publicity, and ‘Royal approval’ of sorts, Marconi was naturally delighted to place his knowledge and skill at the service of the Queen. Two stations, one on board the yacht and the other at Osborne House, were soon established. For the next 16 days, while Kemp was proceeding with his experiments at Rathlin and Ballycastle, Marconi was on board the Royal Yacht, sending altogether about 150 messages by wireless telegraphy. Not one of these messages had to be repeated. The success of this new system of wireless telegraphy attracted widespread press attention. Although signed as a commercial contract, the Rathlin to Ballycastle link was very much a proof of concept of a technology in its infancy, and the siting of antennas and equipment required experimentation. First wireless installations Kemp’s diary entries of the time provide a great insight into the work, and the challenges they faced. “Lloyds requested me”, wrote Kemp, “to fit a wireless station at Rathlin Lighthouse, and another at Ballycastle, and I travelled on to Ballycastle at 1pm on Saturday, June 4th, from which place I communicated with Lloyd’s agent, Mr. Byrne, at 11am. I studied the plans and surveyed the coasts of the North of Ireland and Rathlin Island. The mast at the Lighthouse was 60ft high and 30ft from Lloyd’s hut. I left Ballycastle with Mr. Wyse, and inspected Rathlin Island, returning at 6.10pm”. On Friday, 10 June, when Kemp met Mr. Hough from Lloyds in Ballycastle, they arranged to experiment at the coal store, at the end of the pier in the town, with the antenna leading over the road to a small mast on top of the cliff. This is generally believed to have been the first wireless installation ever set up in Ireland. Next day, Kemp and Hough went to Rathlin, and, upon their return, Kemp fitted up the station at the coal store. The following Monday, Kemp started teaching Lloyd’s agent, Mr. Byrne, and his FIGURE 2: The first transmission across the Bristol Channel. FIGURE 3: Marconi (left) with Kemp (right). Graeme McCusker, MI0WGM mi0wgm@mccusker.com