Who invented Radio?
In 2009, during my tenure as newsletter editor for the RN Electrical Branch Association (now incorporating the Weapons Branch RNEWBA), I received a request from Mr Mike Dixon. Mike had already completed searches into the career of his grandfather, CPO 1st Class W.J.Dixon, who served from 1902 to 1922. This is the letter. ‘I've always been fascinated by the life in the Royal Navy of my grandfather William Dixon. He served from 1902 to 1922 when he left and joined the Marconi Company at their newly formed Morse Code transmitting station, which was in a 'state of the art' building in Dorchester, and where he lived for a further ten years. In 1901 Marconi had just sent the first signals across the Atlantic, and my grandfather joined up in 1902 as an 'electrician', immediately working 'on-shore' on HMS Defiance (initially), HMS Vernon, HMS Pembroke, and HMS Actaeon All these 'ships' were shore establishments, and although he later spent several two year stints at sea, ( mostly on battleships), the majority of his Navy life was spent in these shore buildings. Now....what was he doing? Were 'electricians' trained at Devonport and Chatham? Is it possible he was an instructor who spent the majority of his time passing on his considerable knowledge of what was then a very new technical trade? OR, due to the fact that when he left to become a 'manager' for Marconi , living with his family in a 'works bungalow' directly on site at the transmitting station , was he engaged in something more experimental in the Navy such as the transmitting of electrical/radio signals in submarines, at the Chatham torpedo depot, or even working on th electrical circuitry of the actual torpedoes.
DEFIANCE PRE 1930’s
On this subject I dropped a line to Mr. Alan King who is Historical Collections Librarian at Portsmouth City Library. He came up with the the following information which makes the whole subject of just what was going on in those days before the 1st World War even more intriguing . Alan writes:- I have looked up Defiance, Actaeon, Pembroke II and Vernon in B. Warlow, Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy (2nd ed., 2000) and found that the one thing that three of them had in common was torpedoes. Two were connected with the Royal Naval Air Service. Defiance was commissioned as a Torpedo School Ship at Devonport on 31st December 1884. (She was eventually broken up in 1931.) Actaeon was commissioned as a Torpedo School at Sheerness in 1905 and from 1910 was a depot ship for Torpedo Boat Destroyers, Sheerness. Vernon was established as a torpedo school at Portsmouth on 26th April 1876. During World War I she was also the depot ship at Portsmouth for the Auxiliary Patrol. Has anyone any further knowledge of what was going on 'aboard' the Actaeon, Vernon, and Pembroke prior to the 1st World War?
When he first joined HMS Defiance it was under the command of * Rear Admiral Sir Henry Jackson who worked extremely closely with Marconi in the early days of his experiments with radio, and who was the key figure in promoting radio on a ship to ship basis in the Navy. Was William encouraged to work on the 'new' radio transmitting signalling by a need by Sir Henry Jackson for competent electricians? Will I ever know? William was a very dour man, and never said a word of what he did to his family. I often wonder whether he was sworn under the Official Secrets Act not to say anything about the work that he undertook, which today would be the equivalent of working on extremely high powered computer guidance systems.
Do any of your readers have knowledge of how I could explore the life of an 'electrician' in the early 1900's , when as I read on your web-site - ' the first electrical officer was commissioned in 1918, but the electrical artificers were sanctioned on the 13th May 1901.' Incidentally my grandfather did proceed through the ranks reaching the rank of Chief Petty Officer 1st Class, which he reached in 1915. The family story is that he 'always refused a commission’ but is the truth that there were no commissions 'available' until 1918, and that is why he remained a C.P.O until he left? Any comments, or any knowledge, of the very early days as an electrician in Devonport or Chatham would be most welcome.
Mike Dixon [email protected]’
*There is a slight error in Mike’s contention that his grandfather served under Rear Admiral Sir Henry Jackson in Defiance. If CPO Dixon joined in 1902 this could not have been correct as Henry commanded Defiance from 1895 to 1897, first as a commander and then captain.
Unfortunately our electrical branch members were unable to help Mike but the piece did start some threads about HMS Defiance. Some of our older members contributed experiences of living and training in Defiance. The name covered three hulks moored on the Hamoaze, Torpoint, that served as a torpedo school and later an electrical training establishment. The original group of ships changed early 1930’s. I include one of the submissions as it describes far better than I the set up that Mike’s grandfather would have experienced. (reproduced under the non-commercial use allowed by BBC/history site).
By Petty Officer Len Mason. EA 4th Class DMX 645610 Sir! WW2 People's War © Copyright of content rests with the author . http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/57/a3923057.shtml
‘Just about every ship or mother-ship had an EA of some rating and we were supposed to finish training knowing the layout of supplies to all of them. Town class, County class, frigates, carriers, battleships, the lot. The class room was hot and stuffy in summer or freezing in winter and those sketches kept on coming down and going up again at a rapid rate.
DEFIANCE POST 1930’s
Just for strangers to that excellent ship it comprised three old tubs lashed together with gangways between - HMS Andromeda which originally had sails as well as engines, she was a prize from the French sometime in the 1800 hundreds - HMS Inconstant, steel hulled - HMS Vulcan with a wooden bottom which used to be copper sheathed until it was discovered with salt water they had a battery between the two ships, so they took the copper off. All three were hardly sea going because, being anchored for years, they had become settled in mud. This meant you didn't get rocked to sleep.
Theory instruction was dispensed by officers, practical work by chiefs. We learnt (?) maths, electrical principles, RN history (official and unofficial), how torpedoes worked, trimming gyros, sound powered telephones, Y-dischargers, depth charges, machine shop practice, fitting skills and other bits and pieces. The best bit of fun was firefighting and use of breathing apparatus in smoke filled ships. There was one fire alarm on Andromeda which I had to attend fully kitted. There was a small fire which I found and extinguished, I never admitted I had started it accidentally.
Torpedoes were interesting; a 21" torpedo had a four cylinder engine using diesel fuel compressed by 3000 lb. air which caused ignition. The housing was 21" diameter and perhaps 12" long. It had to be stripped and rebuilt for practice. Just about everyone finished assembly with a pipe of some sort left in their box that could not be put in, - so strip and try again. A gyro driven by the 3000 lb. air provided guidance. They had to be trimmed so that on start up the top pivot did not describe a spiral. This required adjusting tiny little screws and could take ages.
The workshop equipment looked old enough to have come from the 1800's. The Nile centre lathe with speed control using two pairs of adjustable cones and a vee belt. As one pair opened the other pair closed giving infinitely variable speed. The chiefs weren't quite as old as the lathe but on joining the ship I swopped my hard glazed collars for his soft ones, we were both delighted. Working in a white shirt and black tie took some getting used to, especially as I didn't mind getting dirty.
Each mess had mess men who drew our food from the galley and dished it out us. Who can forget the Saturday dinner? Everyone who could was going ashore, including the mess men, so dinner was quick to prepare and quick to clear up. The menu for the day as, - Mashed potatoes (cool), boiled beetroot (cold) and herrings in tomato (cold). A sixpenny "tater oggy" at the station was much preferred.
We also had a mess president who supplemented the food and dealt with our rum ration, neat for petty officers and above, watered down rum (grog) for leading hands and below. Rum was drawn from the spirit store under a guard of marines, taken up to the quarter deck of Inconstant and measured out one tot per rating. Any left over, there was never too little, was tipped into the scuppers in full view of all. Although illegal according to Admiralty instructions, it was a currency you could buy favours with or use as a birthday present. You were also not supposed to take it ashore or to save it for future use. Schemes for collecting the tipped away rum were not unknown.
There were two routes for going ashore. Route one, row across to Wilcove landing stage and walk a couple of miles down into Torpoint to get the chain ferry across to Devonport. You relied on the ships boat crew to row you across unless you had influence. Route two; take the ferry, quite frequently the Totnes Castle (a paddle steamer with a fixed shaft between paddles had a 1/4 mile turning circle) that took you to the Flagstaff steps in Devonport Dockyard, the gate of which was guarded. This could cause problems for adventurous smugglers of rum or tobacco. Was your name written on the toilet walls of the Torpoint church tea bar? If so did you have to pay towards re-painting? Mine wasn't on the wall! If anyone can add to this story please do so. Len Mason. Torpoint
These submissions petered out but not before my interest in Sir Henry Jackson and the passing mention of Marconi led me into looking back into the history of this pair and the roll each played in the development of wireless communications. Forgive me if much of the following is familiar to you. It may help in the exploration of early development of radio and the people involved. The aim is to explain why there has always been questions like the one posed by me and others in the title of this paper.
Guglielmo Marconi
1874–1937 Guglielmo Marconi was born April 25, 1874 in Bologna, Italy, son of Italian landowner, Giuseppe Marconi, and Anne Jameson. Anne’s father founded the Jameson Irish whiskey distillery. Schooling for Guglielmo and his brother was provided by his mother and a tutor, who provided instruction in Italian and other subjects. Anne Marconi’s Irish Protestant background directed her son’s education away from what she described as ‘superstitions commonly taught to small children in Italy’. Aware of her son's abilities and his determination to solve problems on his own she arranged for him to study science and music. His apprenticeship with Physics professor Vincenzo Rosa introduced Marconi to the work of Heinrich Hertz, James Maxwell, Oliver Joseph Lodge, and others conducting experiments into electromagnetic waves. Marconi further explored the properties of electricity by reading scientific publications including L’Elletricita (a semi-professional periodical) and duplicating and modifying experiments he found there. His greatest contribution was applying theoretical and basic discoveries to develop useful applications. Marconi built the necessary equipment from materials around the estate. His experiments were conducted in a laboratory at his home. The first hurdle to overcome was increasing the distance that a wireless transmission could travel. Marconi achieved greater distances by increasing the range of the transmitters, by improving the sensitivity of the receivers, and by using antennas.
Once his messages achieved a distance of more than a mile across the family estate, he applied for funding from the Italian government. His request was denied. He then looked to England because wireless telegraphy would benefit of England’s dominating naval and maritime activities. Also, his mother and English relatives could and would help. In 1896, at age twenty-two, Marconi set out for England. He first applied for an English patent, then met with Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the English Postal and Telegraph Services. Recognizing the potential of Marconi's work, Preece became an advocate and close friend. Ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore wireless telegraphy was operational the following year and Marconi founded his first company, Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company Limited.
Did Marconi invent radio as many of his biographies claim? If so then the Italian was not only a brilliant scientist but also a supreme entrepreneur blessed with a vision of global communication without cables. One of the most revealing narratives I have come across, ironically by using the global cable network called the WWW, is a piece written by Guglielmo’s grandson Dr Francesco Paresce. He is the son of Marconi’s eldest daughter, the late Degna Marconi Paresce.
Dr Francesca Paresce, writing in the ‘Marconi Family Biographies’ on The Marconi Society website reveals a description of his grandfather that is in sharp contrast to his mother’s who contended that her father was ‘a boy genius who unravelled one of the great mysteries of the universe, resulting in the invention of wireless communication’ .
Extract from; marconisociety.org/about/family-biographies/#toggle-id-3 by Dr Francesco Paresce
It seems quite plausible that he hit upon the very idea of wireless communication by reading this magazine (L’Elletrcita) since issue 44 of 1893 contains an article claiming that “the slow vibrations of the ether would allow the marvelous concept of wireless telegraphy without underwater cables, without any of the expensive installations of our time”. It is doubtful, but not impossible, that he was aware of Crookes’ famous prescient article on the same subject that appeared in the Fortnightly Review in February 1892.
Another important characteristic present in his early outlook was that he needed to protect his ideas from infringement by means of patents. Already in early 1893 at the age of 19 he was informing his cousin that he had “been very busy with my electrical experiments which I hope may succeed at last. I think of getting out my patents in August”. Thus, he already felt keenly the necessity to proceed efficiently with the commercial exploitation of the “all kinds of inventions and discoveries” he was playing with since the age of fifteen. It also illustrates how much Marconi was influenced by his father’s earthy, practical mentality from the very beginning, a mentality that would prove useful much later in his career when he was faced with the hard task of turning his invention into a successful commercial enterprise.
But what exactly did this invention he made while still not much more than a boy in Italy in the years 1894-1896 when he defined himself “an ardent amateur of electricity” actually boil down to technically? His truly “unique” discovery, in essence, regarded the fact that by elevating his transmitting and receiving antennas a fair distance above ground and grounding properly one end of the antenna he could transmit intelligible signals over the then astonishing distance of several kilometres even over such obstacles as walls and hills that should have been impossible to penetrate if the waves acted like those in the optical spectrum.
In retrospect it is clear that, by pure trial and error and considerable will power exercised over several years of painstaking experimentation and not in the “flash” so dear to later chroniclers, he discovered that electromagnetic waves of long wavelength would propagate in free space over considerable distances and interposed obstacles in contrast to the short ones used up to then in the laboratory.
We should emphasize here at this point that although his “invention” was always the subject of intense and sometimes acrimonious controversy and debate as to its exact character and priority there is no question whatsoever that absolutely nobody before him had been able to accomplish as much. Although the concept of the grounded vertical antenna was not new in itself (Franklin’s kite and Popov’s lightning conductor being well known precursors), it was Marconi’s use of it as a device to transmit and receive signals that was completely new and revolutionary.
We now know, of course, that, at the roughly 1-10 meter long wavelengths he was probably using, he was taking good advantage of the ground or surface wave that, at these low frequencies, follows closely the contours of the earth. Everything else about his wireless telegraphic system he developed in Bologna. Perhaps the exact form of his inspired antenna system was known and developed in one form or another by a whole suite of very able experimenters like Hertz, Lodge, Calzecchi-Onesti, Branly, Righi, and Popov (who used his grounded antenna for detecting atmospheric disturbances) of whose work he had quite detailed information through his assiduous reading of L’Elettricita’ or directly through his personal association with Righi in Bologna.
All the people mentioned above did much to advance basic knowledge in the science and technology of electromagnetic waves but none saw their practical potential for wireless communication. Marconi himself was to remark that: ** “My chief trouble was that the idea was so elementary, so simple in logic that it seemed difficult to believe no one else had thought of putting it in practice”. As Aitken put it ”the commercial potential of wireless telegraphy which was so obvious to Marconi was not self-evident to others”. Cont.. **These comments perhaps contain the essence of what Marconi was about. He was probably unaware that others, chiefly Henry Jackson, had indeed ‘thought of putting it into practice.’ The difference lay with Henry’s desire to improve communications in the fleet as opposed to Marconi’s commercial aspirations.
One of a number of people important to Marconi in his developing years was ‘PROFFESSOR AUGUSTO RIGHI , Professor of Physics at Bologna University.
A little about Augusto Righi supports the premise that Marconi’s single minded approach to wireless had little to do with theory but more to do with innovation.
Marconi visited professor Righi several times. He probably saw the equipment devised by Righi in his laboratory. Their relationship consisted on the one side of Marconi trying to explain his ideas and continuously asking Righi questions, and on the other side the professor replying and suggesting that Marconi should continue his education to gain a solid, basic knowledge. But Marconi did not follow his advice; instead he began to experiment on his own. Once he had completed his new system (which would later be called wireless telegraphy) he moved with his mother to London in order to patent his invention and develop its applications.
When Marconi became famous, the two met on various public occasions and always declared their mutual respect. To the many people who considered Professor Righi the real inventor of wireless telegraphy, he replied that he had not been Marconi's teacher and that Marconi had carried out his research autonomously. At the same time he considered Marconi's scientific contribution nothing more than a ‘useful application’. When Marconi was awarded the Nobel prize in 1909, Righi, who had been candidate for the prize for fifteen years without winning, could not deny his disappointment.’
Dr Francesco Paresce cont.
…cont. In February 1896 Guglielmo and Annie, his mother, packed up and headed for London. Several obvious reasons prompted him, or maybe Annie, to do this. First and foremost was the fact that his device had one unique application at the time: naval mobile telegraphy. What better place to market it than in England, then the pre-eminent naval power? Second, and, probably, just as important, the Jameson family to which Annie belonged was financially well off and politically and socially well connected to the English commercial if not the technical entrepreneurial classes to provide the support required to carry out the Marconi’s “grand design”. Finally, their knowledge of the language and customs of the country (assuredly better even than those of Guglielmo’s native Italy) was another deciding factor. William Henry Preece Marconi moved with his mother to London In February 1896. His cousin Henry Jameson Davis introduced Marconi to William Preece, the manager and scientific director for the British Post Office. Preece, under pressure to produce workable wireless communications saw in Marconi a possible answer to his problems.
Preece had experimented with telephony and wireless telegraphy as scientific director. He often found himself in conflict with his political masters and the élite of British scholars. He realised that Marconi could be the answer to the many confused expectations presented by the new communication tools. Realizing the mutual benefit, Marconi teamed up with Preece and organised a demonstration of his new equipment from the roofs of London. Preece continued to allow Marconi the use the Post Office facilities in order to experiment with long distance transmissions, first on Salisbury Plain and later in the Bristol channel.
On 12 December 1896 a conference took place at the Royal Institution. Preece announced Marconi's new and exciting communication system and the decision of the Post Office to support the Italian inventor. From that day on wireless telegraphy officially moved into the public domain.
Experiments continued through 1897 and relations between Marconi and the Post Office were strengthening. Jameson Davis then proposed founding a company with Marconi. After deliberating for a while, Marconi agreed and the Marconi Company was formed, ending the partnership with William Preece. Consequently their relations deteriorated rapidly, creating difficulties for Marconi that he was able to overcome thanks to his radio telegraphic system’s proven efficiency.
Preece died in 1913 at the age of seventy nine, having lived to see his protégé win the Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1909.
In profiles of William Preece I can find little or no mention of a man that worked closely with both Preece and later Marconi, a man who contributed an enormous amount to the development of radio. A protégé of Sir Henry Jackson, RN Instructor George Kemp was loaned to Preece in July 1896 (possibly while still serving – but this is not clear). A year later George Kemp moved to be employed by Marconi.
George Kemp. Born in 1857 George Kemp served as an electrician and instructor with the Royal Navy. It is highly likely that, as HMS Defiance housed the Navy’s first Electrical School, he would have worked with Sir Henry on his fledgling wireless equipment. It is also likely that George’s move to the Post Office, working for William Preece, occurred as a result of contact between Preece and Henry. When Preece realized Marconi's great potential he put George Kemp to work alongside the young Italian. From then on - July 1896 - Kemp devoted himself to wireless telegraphy, becoming Marconi's inseparable assistant. In 1897 George moved from the Post Office to the fledgling Marconi Company, where he worked as First Assistant for the next thirty six years. Kemp was at Marconi's side for his most memorable achievements, including the first wireless transmission across the Atlantic Ocean to St. John's, Newfoundland where they received the letter 's' in Morse code sent from the Poldhu station in Cornwall.
From the beginning Marconi devised a working system that consisted of a team of technicians who reported directly to him. There were twenty in 1900 and by 1906 that number had increased to thirty two. All were more or less the same age as Marconi. Many of them went on to hold important positions within the Company, whereas Kemp who was much older, kept his role as Marconi's irreplaceable right-hand man until he died in Southampton in 1933.
Kemp was very efficient at solving all types of practical problems, kept a detailed work diary and was even in charge of Marconi's personal diet. Very few people gained his lifelong affection, but Kemp was probably one of them. The office door was always open to George Stephen Kemp and Marconi not only referred to him as his First Assistant and Valuable Helper but also as his friend.
Any member that travelled the A35 before 1978, (perhaps by coach in the days before universal car ownership) will remember the wonderful avenue of trees (now blown down in Michael Fish’s hurricane of Oct 1987) that lined the road west out of Dorchester. At its western end stood the iconic Marconi Radio Beam Station, a white building fronting a huge field of high antennas. The building still stands (photo above) but the aerials are gone, replaced by a single telephone tower. The cottages on the opposite side of the road, known as the Radio Station Houses, still exist, probably housing George Kemp and later, William Dixon. There exists photographic evidence that George worked here at Dorchester, alongside Marconi at Poldhu and by virtue of his position in Marconi’s company, at other stations including Rugby.
Chiefly as a follow-up of the feature contributed by Pete Gracey in our ‘dits and bits’ section I have included links to pages that deal with the history of the radio station at Rugby. They contain information and pictures of the equipment, including images of the VLF tuning coil in its original site. Its past roll should be of enormous interest to any cold-war warrior, particularly submariners. Rugby radio started its life as one of the high powered sites chosen by Marconi in 1910 to cover the British Empire. Subsequent parliamentary objection to what was seen as a private company having control of world communications and the war saw the contracts greatly cut and taken over by the Postmaster General. Hugely important to defence, the Rugby station performed a top secret role during both world wars and the cold war using hugely powerful VLF equipment.
EVENTS LEADING TO THE BUILDING OF RUGBY RADIO
To fully appreciate the history of Rugby Radio one must go back in time to the year 1910, for it was in this year that the newly formed Marconi Company approached the Colonial Office for licences for the construction of eighteen wireless stations throughout the British Empire.
While the idea proved of great interest to the Government, the general scheme was found to be unacceptable as it was felt that an undertaking of this magnitude should be in the hands of the Government and not a private concern.
After more than two years deliberation an agreement was concluded with the Marconi Company for the erection of six high power stations. The details of this agreement however, were severely criticised in Parliament and a Select Committee was appointed to report on it. The Select Committee in turn recommended the appointment of a committee of experts to examine the question from a technical point of view. This committee recommended certain modifications and a revised agreement was concluded in July 1913, ratified by the House of Commons and subsequently by the Dominion Governments concerned.
In December 1914, the Cabinet questioned how the Imperial stations would be affected by the war. As a result, they instructed the Postmaster General to terminate the contract with the Marconi Company as the Government had decided not to proceed with the Imperial Wireless Chain. At that date the erection of the masts at the English and Egyptian Stations had practically been completed and the mast material for the Indian station delivered.
The other side of the argument. I hope I have demonstrated enough of Marconi’s contribution to the development of radio that puts him high on the list. Without doubt he and his company became the leaders of an industry that led to a revolution in communications worldwide – but does that answer the question of who invented radio? If not Marconi then who?
Another front runner was Henry Jackson. Born in Barnsley in 1855, Henry joined the navy in 1869.
In the early 1870’s he trained at the torpedo training establishment, HMS Vernon and took command of a Torpedo boat. Communication problems during manoeuvres would have stuck with Henry then and later, in 1890 when 2nd in command of HMS Edinburgh. He became engaged to Alice Burbury in 1887, an event that could possibly have planted the seed leading to Henry’s solution to his communication problems.
To explain: Henry became engaged to Alice in 1887 to marry in 1890. Her father was the eminent mathematician, Samuel Burbury. Together with his Cambridge friend, Henry Watson, he collaborated on treatises that included “The Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism” endeavouring to carry on the research of Clerk Maxwell to place electrostatics and electromagnetism on a more formal basis. This is completely unsubstantiated but one could well imagine Henry and his future and hence father-in-law discussing the navy’s communication problems over a pipe and a brandy. Could this be the time that between them they combined Sam Burbury’s theory with Henry Jackson’s practical vision that could provide a solution?
Certainly by 1895 when Henry takes command of HMS Defiance the pieces of the jigsaw are coming together. Henry now has at his disposal all the facilities of the Navy’s electrical school including workshops, a dockyard offering materials and most importantly, knowledgeable electricians in the form of trainers and bright minded students. Work on aerials had been going on for a number of years, mainly by theorists searching the skies for latent electromagnetic disturbances. Marconi certainly found by experimentation that distance could be increased with aerial length. Once more the advantage fell Henry’s way. The high masts and natural grounding of his vessels provided an ideal framework for antennas.
By early 1896 Henry successfully transmits a signal the length of Defiance. Throughout that year he achieves increasing distances and by the spring of 1897 he establishes signals between his tender, HMS Scourge and a gunboat over more than three miles, the first ship to ship communication out of eye contact. He also established a wireless link between Defiance and Admiralty House.
In my efforts to research Sir Henry Jackson, I came across the following piece written by John Littlefield. It is quite comprehensive and made me think twice about continuing my contribution. I hope you will agree that I have been able to fill in some gaps and create a fuller picture. John, a communicator when serving, volunteered as a guide aboard HMS Warrior. The history of that great vessel and the part it played in developing the tools of his trade had piqued John’s interest that led him inevitably to Marconi and Jackson. John has generously allowed me to use his piece as I need and for that I thank him. The link is added at the end.
Everyone’s heard of Marconi, but . . . by John Littlefield
Much of John’s work is new to me and the revelation that Henry had commanded HMS Vernon in 1904 possibly explains why Mike Dixon places his grandfather as serving under Henry. As a torpedoman/electrician Chief Dixon and Henry probably crossed paths in Vernon and not Defiance. Chief Dixon would have followed in the career path of George Kemp, leaving the navy to join the Marconi company. How or who initiated that move is probably and sadly lost in time.
John Littlefield makes the point that Sir Henry Jackson, weighed by his other considerable responsibilities, had to give up his work on wireless comms. when he left Defiance for Paris in 1897. This is a fact but Henry did not give up supporting men like Marconi. Henry’s only thought was to provide his navy with the most effective wireless equipment available, and that meant sharing his achievements with Marconi. I believe that it was George Kemp who, reinforced with Henry’s teachings, carried on where Henry had left off. Largely unsung, George was nevertheless always around when historic steps forward were made. Firstly alongside Preece and then as Marconi’s Chief Assistant and lifelong friend, the ex-Navy man deserves more recognition than he has so far received. Resourceful and methodical he was present at Marconi’s side when the pair demonstrated Marconi’s fledgling equipment across London’s rooftops in 1897. He was also present at Poldhu as first assistant to Marconi when setting up the transmitter that sent the historical first transatlantic wireless message to St John’s, Newfoundland in 1901. Scant recognition for his ground breaking work on wireless can also be said of Sir Henry Jackson, but his dazzling career led him in a different direction. Who knows, with the help of George Kemp and perhaps later, William Dixon, and without the demands of a very demanding job, we could be claiming that one of ours invented radio.
So who did invent radio, and can one even use the word ‘invent’? Electrostatic waves, or Hertzian waves have always been around. They are a natural phenomenon and as such can only be discovered. Many scientifically minded people before Marconi and Jackson and even Hertz, suspected their existence. One such, David Edward Hughes, in 1878 identified by accident the phenomena. Working on telegraph equipment he produced a spark that coincided with the sound issuing from a microphone some distance away. He was able to demonstrate that a controlled spark could be picked up some 500 yards down the road. Dismissed as an induction effect, nothing transpired.
So what of Guglielmo Marconi? He certainly did not invent radio as his doting Mother claimed. Together with Sir Henry and others he used his considerable skills to create the tools necessary to control the phenomena.
To quote his grandson, Francesco Paresce:
Marconi was the right man in the right place at the right time. He was the right man because he had the ideal combination of personal characteristics for the job: persistence, daring, technical ability, charisma and flair for public relations.
Who could argue with that?
As John Littlefield says,
‘Clearly you can’t talk about Marconi without talking about Jackson, and you can’t talk about either of them without referring to all the other scientists and inventors that went before them. In other words, despite various claims, no one individual ‘invented’ the wireless –– it evolved. But both Jackson and Marconi were interesting men and did great things. Jackson’s interest was in the well- being of the Navy, and Marconi’s was in the well-being of his bank account. I think both achieved their aims.’
Further reading: http://www.fgm.it/en/marconi-en/profiles/augusto-righi.html http://rncca.com/PDF%20Docs/Everyone's%20Heard%20of%20Marconi%20RNCCA%20Web.pdf http://www.fgm.it/en/marconi-en/profiles/william-preece.html http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/r/rugby_radio/index.shtml http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/r/rugby_radio/index2.shtml http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/r/rugby_radio/indexr67.shtml