Subject: Re: Marconi, Great House Farm, Llandough
From: Sion Buckler
Direction: sent
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:41 UTC
Institution: The Postal Museum
Refs: none
Archive id: gm-19fae1bcda03af34
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mathilde,
Thank you for your further reply and for carrying out the searches.
I appreciate your assistance, but I would like to clarify the scope and
conclusions of the search, as several points remain unresolved.
Firstly, I should correct one detail: the individual I am researching is *Mr
Williams of Great House Farm, Llandough near Penarth*, not "Mr William".
The surname is significant because family history suggests that my
great-grandfather, Mr Williams of Great House Farm, assisted Guglielmo
Marconi during the 1897 South Wales wireless experiments.
I fully understand that the absence of a result within the Postal Museum
catalogue does not necessarily mean that no such person or record existed.
However, I would be grateful if you could clarify the following:
1. *Search methodology*
Could you confirm exactly which catalogue collections, series, or record
groups were searched for:
- Great House Farm, Llandough (Penarth)
- Llandough
- Lavernock
- Marconi
- wireless telegraphy demonstrations (1897)
- GPO Telegraph Department
- Engineering Department
- Williams / Mr Williams
2. *Scope of the negative result*
When you state that "nothing relevant came up", does this mean:
- no indexed catalogue entries were found in Postal Museum collections;
- no digitised records were found;
- or that physical archival holdings were also checked?
3. *Records relating to GPO personnel*
You mentioned that most Marconi and Telegraph Department records are held
at BT Archives. Could you confirm whether the Postal Museum holds any
catalogue references, finding aids, or transferred-record information
indicating where the relevant GPO engineering correspondence, reports,
notebooks, or staff records may have been moved?
4. *The Williams connection*
The question I am trying to establish is not necessarily whether Mr
Williams was a Post Office employee. He may instead have been the
owner/occupier of Great House Farm who assisted Marconi locally.
Could you therefore confirm whether your search included references to:
- private individuals assisting demonstrations;
- hosts or local contacts connected with Marconi's experiments;
- correspondence mentioning residents of Llandough, Penarth, or
Lavernock?
I appreciate that the absence of a catalogue entry cannot prove that an
event or person did not exist, particularly where local residents or
private landowners were involved.
My aim is simply to establish the evidential trail: whether the Mr Williams
mentioned in contemporary accounts can be identified, and whether surviving
records connect him with Great House Farm and Marconi's experiments.
Thank you again for your assistance. I would be grateful for any further
clarification on the above points before I proceed to BT Archives and
Glamorgan Archives.
Kind regards,
Sion Buckler
On Wed, 29 Jul 2026, 10:32 Archives, <[email redacted]> wrote:
> Dear Sion,
>
>
>
> I searched for all files related to the key words Great House Farm,
> Llandough, Lavernock, wireless demonstration. Nothing relevant came up. For
> Marconi and the Telegraph Departments, all the files would be held at BT
> Archives.
>
>
>
> I hope this helps,
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
> Mathilde
>
>
>
> *Mathilde Jourdan*
>
> Archives Assistant
>
> *The Postal Museum* | 15-20 Phoenix Place | London [postcode redacted]
> [map link redacted]
>
> T: [phone redacted] | Archive enquiries: [phone redacted] | E:
> [email redacted]
>
> [image: Facebook Icon - click to open a new browser window showing the
> Postal Museum Facebook channel]
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> to open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Twitter channel]
> [image: Instgram Icon - click to
> open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Instragram channel]
> [image: Youtube Icon - click
> to open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Youtube channel]
>
>
>
>
> The Postal Museum is the public identity of the Postal Heritage Trust.
> Registered as a charity in England and Wales. Registered Charity Number
> 1102360. Company Number 4896056
>
>
>
> *From:* Sion Buckler <[email redacted]>
> *Sent:* 29 July 2026 14:04
> *To:* Archives <[email redacted]>
> *Subject:* Re: Marconi, Great House Farm, Llandough
>
>
>
> Dear Mathilde,
>
> Thank you very much for taking the time to carry out these searches and
> for your detailed response.
>
> I appreciate the clarification regarding the distinction between Great
> House Farm, Llandough near Penarth and the similarly named location near
> Cowbridge. The Penarth/Llandough/Lavernock area is the location of interest.
>
> Your advice regarding BT Archives is very helpful, and I will follow this
> up with them, as the surviving GPO Telegraph and wireless records appear
> likely to be held there.
>
> I am also grateful for the information about the Post Office family
> history records. My main interest is not that Mr Williams was necessarily a
> Post Office employee, but whether the individual mentioned in contemporary
> accounts as assisting Marconi at Great House Farm can be identified. Family
> history passed down through my great grandfather's line suggests that a Mr
> Williams of Great House Farm assisted Marconi during his South Wales
> experiments, and I am trying to establish whether this can be connected to
> my ancestor.
>
> If possible, could you let me know whether the search you carried out
> included any of the following terms or collections, as this may help me
> understand the scope of the search:
>
> - Great House Farm (Llandough/Penarth)
> - Llandough
> - Lavernock
> - Marconi
> - wireless telegraphy demonstrations (1897)
> - GPO Telegraph Department / Engineering Department
>
> I will also contact Glamorgan Archives, as you suggest, since local
> newspapers, estate records, or correspondence may contain information not
> held in the national collections.
>
> Thank you again for your assistance. Your guidance has helped narrow down
> where the relevant evidence is most likely to survive.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Sion Buckler
>
>
>
> On Wed, 29 Jul 2026, 07:31 Archives, <[email redacted]> wrote:
>
> Dear Sion,
>
>
>
> Thank you for your enquiry. I will do my best to check if we have
> surviving records of this demonstration, although most of the records about
> telecommunications were transferred to BT Archives so they might have more
> information than us: https://www.bt.com/about/bt/our-history/bt-archives
>
> - Great House Farm, Llandough, near Penarth, Cardiff (not Great House
> Farm, Llandough near Cowbridge)
>
> I couldn’t find any record mentioning Great House Farm, Llandough. For
> Penarth, there were some results but they were all dated much later than
> the demonstration. We have many records on Cardiff, which you can find on
> our online catalogue Here, but nothing relevant seemed to have come up.
>
> - Llandough, Penarth, Lavernock and the surrounding wireless
> demonstration sites.
>
> Nothing came up for Lavernock either, the locations are too precise for
> this type of records to have reached our archives. I searched for ‘wireless
> demonstration’ and POST 88 Series titled ‘Post Office: Wireless Telegraphy
> and Telephony’ mentions such events, but all the files are kept in BT
> Archives.
>
> - Guglielmo Marconi's 1897 demonstrations.
>
> Almost all the files related to Marconi are held in BT Archives.
>
> - GPO Telegraph or Engineering Department records concerning these
> demonstrations.
>
> See above.
>
> - Correspondence, reports, notebooks, diaries, staff lists, expense
> claims, photographs or plans relating to engineers or officials present.
>
> See above.
>
> - Any references to Mr Williams of Great House Farm, Llandough, who
> family history suggests assisted Marconi before, during or after his stay
> at the property.
>
> I couldn’t find any specific file about a Mr William from Great House
> Farm, but the main records we have that are useful for family history
> research are the Appointment Books, and the pension and gratuity records.
> We also have Establishment Books and staff magazines that can be helpful
> too. You can find more information about what we hold here:
> https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/the-archive/family-history/
> Please bear in mind that most villages, small towns, hamlets, etc. such as
> Llandough had business that ran a postal service, and these people were not
> directly employed by the Post Office, therefore, we won’t have any
> information. If Mr Williams had another business, he was likely not
> employed by the Post Office. A local archive might hold newspaper cuttings
> or other information about this person: https://glamarchives.gov.uk/
>
> You are welcome to visit our archives, but I believe most of the records
> and information you are looking for will be held at BT Archives. You can
> contact them directly to organise an appointment.
>
>
>
> I hope this helps,
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
> Mathilde
>
>
>
> *Mathilde Jourdan*
>
> Archives Assistant
>
> *The Postal Museum* | 15-20 Phoenix Place | London [postcode redacted]
> [map link redacted]
>
> T: [phone redacted] | Archive enquiries: [phone redacted] | E:
> [email redacted]
>
> [image: Facebook Icon - click to open a new browser window showing the
> Postal Museum Facebook channel]
> [image: Twitter Icon - click
> to open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Twitter channel]
> [image: Instgram Icon - click to
> open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Instragram channel]
> [image: Youtube Icon - click
> to open a new browser window showing the Postal Museum Youtube channel]
>
>
>
>
> The Postal Museum is the public identity of the Postal Heritage Trust.
> Registered as a charity in England and Wales. Registered Charity Number
> 1102360. Company Number 4896056
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Sion Buckler <[email redacted]>
> *Sent:* 24 July 2026 16:17
> *To:* Booking Support Team <[email redacted]>
> *Subject:* Marconi, Great House Farm, Llandough
>
>
>
> You don't often get email from [email redacted]. Learn why this
> is important
>
> Dear Archive Team,
>
> I am conducting historical research into the General Post Office's
> involvement in Guglielmo Marconi's wireless demonstrations in South Wales
> during 1897.
>
> Post Office Ltd has advised that your archive is the most likely
> repository for surviving historic GPO records relating to this period.
>
> I would be grateful if you could search for any records relating to:
>
> - Great House Farm, Llandough, near Penarth, Cardiff (not Great House
> Farm, Llandough near Cowbridge).
> - Llandough, Penarth, Lavernock and the surrounding wireless
> demonstration sites.
> - Guglielmo Marconi's 1897 demonstrations.
> - GPO Telegraph or Engineering Department records concerning these
> demonstrations.
> - Correspondence, reports, notebooks, diaries, staff lists, expense
> claims, photographs or plans relating to engineers or officials present.
> - Any references to Mr Williams of Great House Farm, Llandough, who
> family history suggests assisted Marconi before, during or after his stay
> at the property.
>
> If records relating specifically to Mr Williams cannot be located, I would
> also appreciate details of any records identifying GPO personnel, visitors
> or local residents connected with the demonstrations, as these may help
> establish the historical context.
>
> If another archive holds any of these records, I would be grateful if you
> could advise where I should direct my enquiry.
>
> Mr Williams of Great House Farm was my great grandad. I am trying to
> ascertain if the Mr Williams post office worker, mentioned helping Marconi
> in the article, was the same man as my great grandfather. I am also looking
> for any more connections between my family, my former home and Marconi and
> the radio experiments at lavernock point. Which I understand were already
> underway before Marconi arrived to South Wales.
>
> Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response.
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Sion Buckler (Ret'd Sgt)
>
> Royal Signals Cyber & Electronic Warfare Professional and Life Member
>
>