Marconi in East Kent

One fanciful tale has it that on their entry into England, at Dover, a Customs
officer opened Marconi’s case only to find various experimental apparatus of a
previously unknown type. Said customs officer apparently immediately
contacted The Admiralty in London which duly gained Marconi the interest and
support of The GPO, The General Post Office.
Although somewhat more prosaic the reality is more likely that Guglielmo’s
cousin, Henry Jameson-Davis, had a far greater influence in helping Marconi
realise his ambitions than any Dover Custom’s Officer.
An established engineer specialising in the planning and construction of
cereal mills Jameson Davis had an established office in London from which he
would assist Marconi in obtaining the patent for his invention having first
installed his Aunt and his cousin, in rented accommodation near Kensington
Gardens, West London.
Jameson Davis also organized Marconi's first private demonstrations in
England, managing to raise financial backing in the process so much so that
Jameson Davis, who also came to realise the potential of his cousin's invention,
would propose they would found a company together.
Initially reluctant and not a little cautious Marconi finally agreed to the
proposal and on 20 July 1897 the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company was
founded by which time British Patent number 12039 titled "Improvements in
Transmitting Electrical impulses and Signals, and in Apparatus therefor", the
first patent for a radio wave based communication system, had been applied
for and granted to Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi.
In the interim via a well-known electrical engineer, Mr A A Cambell Swinton,
Guglielmo was introduced to William Preece Chief Engineer at the GPO whose
interest in Marconi’s proposals was immediate, so much so that an early
demonstration transmission was arranged over a distance of approximately
half a mile.
Unlike his Italian Military counterparts Preece recognised the potential of
Wireless Telegraphy in communicating over water, with ships and lighthouses
in particular, and was confident enough in what he had witnessed to engage
with other Government Departments, not least as a potential source of future
funding for further experiments and demonstrations.