A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N DFrancis Ronalds, Sir : 1788 - 1873
In 1816 British inventor Francis Ronalds erects an experimental telegraph system in the grounds of his house in Hammersmith, London. It used clockwork-driven rotating dials, engraved with letters of the alphabet and numbers, synchronised with each other, at both ends of the circuit.
 Ronalds' 'Transmitter / Reciever'
They were connected with 12.9km of electrically-charged iron wire, hung on two strong wooden frames, each with 19 horizontal bars.
 Ronald's garden telegraph frame
Ronalds successfully transmitted and received letters; he believed his telegraph would work over distances of 800km. The British Admiralty was informed of his success but rejected his invention; they felt that the telegraph was not needed in peacetime and that the existing semaphore system was adequate. In 1871, Ronalds received a belated knighthood for his pathfinding work.
In 1816, Francis Ronalds, who was fascinated by electricity, developed an electric telegraph (using static high voltage electricity) and succeeded in sending messages through eight miles of iron wire suspended above his garden in London. He showed that the transmission of electrical signals was instantaneous, although it is unlikely his equipment would have worked over long distances. He realised the potential of his telegraph for sending vital military messages between London and Portsmouth and offered to demonstrate it to the Admiralty. They declined, saying that they had no intention of using anything other than their mechanical semaphore.
In 1806, Ralph Wedgwood submitted a telegraph based on frictional electricity to the Admiralty,but was told that the semaphore was sufficient for the country. In a pamphlet he suggested the establishment of a telegraph system with public offices in different centres. Francis Ronalds, in 1816, brought a similar telegraph of his invention to the notice of the Admiralty, and was politely informed that 'telegraphs of any kind are now wholly unnecessary.'
"The "man of science" at the British Admiralty at the time, who had to deal with the stream of inventions, was its secretary, Mr. Barrow. Very likely, the large majority of the proposals he rejected out of hand were truly undeserving. On 11 July 1816, however, he received the following letter from Sir Francis Ronalds, with what was probably the first proposal to replace the optical telegraph with an electro-magnetic one. It was addressed to Lord Melville, who was First Lord of the British Admiralty at the time...
Mr. Ronalds presents his respectful compliments to Lord Melville and takes the liberty of soliciting his Lordship's attention to a mode of conveying telegraphic intelligence with great rapidity, accuracy, and certainty, in all states of the atmosphere, either at night or in the day, and at small expense, which has occurred to him whilst pursuing some electrical experiments. Having been at some pains to ascertain the practicality of the scheme, it appears to Mr. Ronalds and to a few gentlemen by whom it has been examined, to possess several important advantages over any species of telegraph hitherto invented, and he would be much gratified by an opportunity of demonstrating those advantages to Lord Melville by an experiment which he has no doubt would be deemed decisive, if it should be perfectly agreeable and consistent with his Lordship's engagements to honour Mr. Ronalds with a call; or he would be very happy to explain more particularly the nature of the contrivance if Lord Melville could conveniently oblige him by appointing an interview. [Signed, Upper Mall, Hammersmith, 11 July 1816.]Mr. Barrow's answer of 5 August 1816 could have been chiseled on his grave...
Mr. Barrow presents his compliments to Mr. Ronalds, and acquaints him with reference to his note of the 3rd inst., that telegraphs of any kind are now wholly unnecessary; and that no other than the one now in use will be adopted At about this same time, the British Prime Minister is reported to have answered a parliamentary question on the subject as follows...
Mechanical telegraphs are now so perfect that I doubt if they can be improved, they certainly answer all calls that are likely to be made on them, but if improvements are forthcoming they must not be looked for in the ingenious electrical toy just referred to by the Hon. Member.Sir Francis did not pursue the matter further, nor did he try to lobby other bodies. It would take another twenty years before William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone would do so, and succeed by selling the first electro-magnetic telegraphs to the British Railways.
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