Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co

June 1905.

1917.

1924. Ref AA below

1936. Ref AA below

1939.

Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company of Marconi House, Chelmsford, Essex.

1897 The company was registered in July as the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Co on the 20th July to acquire patent rights from Guglielmo Marconi.

1898 The first wireless factory was set up in Hall Street, Chelmsford. (Today, the Hall Street building is owned by the Essex and Suffolk Water Company). Premises were needed for the new organisation. Marconi decided upon a place that was a relatively short distance from London and accessible by rail; Chelmsford was an ideal location. In December, the first wireless factory in the world was set up in an old silk factory in Hall Street.

1900 The name was changed to Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company. The company's maritime rights were sold to the Marconi International Marine Communication Co, and the company held a controlling interest in subsidiary companies formed in the United States and Canada. ^[1]

1900 The famous '7777' patent was granted on 26 April, which documented a system for tuned coupled circuits and allowed simultaneous transmissions on different frequencies. Adjacent stations were now able to operate without interfering with one another and ranges were increased.

1901 Marconi achieved communication over 198 miles between the Isle of Wight and the Lizard in Cornwall. This was a fitting limbering-up exercise for his marathon transatlantic attempt. It was a huge gamble in both scientific and financial terms for Marconi and his infant company. For the experiment, Poldhu in Cornwall was selected as the site for the British station and Cape Cod selected as the location to build the American Station. This site was later abandoned for a temporary installation at Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland. On 12 December, a blustering gale at Signal Hill made it difficult for Marconi and his assistants to launch the aerial on its kite, but at 12.30, 1.10 and 2.20, he was able to pick up the three dots of the Morse code ‘S’ that were being transmitted from Poldhu. The age of long-distance communication was born.

1912 The Marconi Works at New Street, Chelmsford were designed and erected to replace the works at Hall Street, which had become inadequate for the needs of the growing Company. New Street was the first purpose-built radio factory in the world and ultimately became the Marconi Company headquarters. The site, part of which faces onto New Street and is Grade II listed, remained a Marconi site until 2003.

1920 January. Physical and Optical Societies Exhibition. Exhibited wireless telegraphy. ^[2]

1920 Another important area in the advances made in wireless telephony lay in public broadcasting. On 15th June, Britain’s first advertised public broadcast programme took place. A song recital by Dame Nellie Melba was broadcast using a Marconi 15 kW telephone transmitter at the Marconi works in Chelmsford, and was heard in many countries.

1921, the Company was permitted to broadcast the first regular public entertainment programme from a low-power transmitter at Writtle, near Chelmsford, and later from the first London station at Marconi House.

1922 Unrestricted competition was checked, however, when the question of broadcasting was referred to the Broadcasting Sub-Committee of the Imperial Conference. All the competing interests were merged the British Broadcasting Company, later to become the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

1924 Wireless equipment for the mercantile marine etc. By Marconi International Marine Communication Co. ^[5]

1929 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. A joint exhibit with the Eastern Telegraph Co in connection with the world-wide telegraph services "Via Marconi" and "Via Eastern". Telegrams may be handed in for transmission to all parts. (Stand No. HD) ^[6]

1932 Marconi returned to the study of very short wavelengths and personally supervised the installation of the first microwave telephone link which connected the Vatican City with the Pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo.

1934 Marconi was not greatly interested in television. His company in England however, was deeply involved in advancing the new medium. Its television interests were merged with those of EMI Ltd in a company called The Marconi-EMI Television Co in which it was responsible for all aspect of transmission.

1935 Marconi moved to Rome never to leave Italy again. Marconi had demonstrated the principles of blind navigation in the early 1930s, and by 1935 Sir Robert Watson-Watt was beginning his experiments into radar off the Suffolk coast.

1936 The Marconi-EMI system was adopted by the BBC for its public high definition television service - the first in the world.

1937 The Company acquired the expertise to fulfil Government orders for transmitter aerials for CH (Chain Home) stations, Britain's first air defense radar network.

1937 Marconi died in the early hours of 20 July, aged 63, and his body was laid to rest in the mausoleum in the grounds of Villa Griffone. In a fitting tribute, wireless stations throughout the world fell silent for 2 minutes and the ether was as silent as it had been before Marconi.

1946 Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Co was taken over by the English Electric Co.

1947 British Industries Fair Advert as "Pioneers for 50 years - The Greatest Name in Wireless". Manufacturers of Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Stations, Broadcasting and Television Transmitters. Radar Direction Finding, Naval, Military, Police and Marine Equipment. Wireless Beacons. Aircraft and Aerodrome Stations. Autoalarm Devices, Echometers. High Frequency Crystals. (Music and Radio Section - Olympia, Ground Floor, Stand No. C.1514) ^[8]

1961 Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co was a subsidiary of English Electric Co. Employed 8,750 persons. Also Marconi Instruments. ^[9]

1968 English Electric Co acquired by GEC. Incorporated in the defence division of GEC.

Note:
- The Marconi Company should not be confused with the Marconi Corporation which was created in 1999, by the renaming of The General Electric Company (GEC), minus the Marconi Electronic Systems business.

Sources of Information