Later the whole family moved to London, but fortune did not smile on R.M. Preece there and he got into financial difficulties, forcing the family to move to a smaller house and William had to leave King’s College without a degree. His main interest, however was in the pioneering work of Faraday and Tyndall and he attended lectures by them. He obtained work as a clerk at the Electric Telegraph Company. (E.T.C.) and was later appointed an engineering assistant. After being involved in experiments in transmitting time signals and having worked with Michael Faraday he was promoted superintendant of the Southern District in Southampton. When the post office took over control of the nation’s telegraph service in 1870 William Preece became Engineer in Charge of the Southern District to begin with and later promoted the Post Office’s Chief Engineer.
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Retiring in 1899 he moved to Caeathro. The same year he was knighted and made the first ever Freeman of the Borough of Caernarfon. After a busy retirement he died on November 6th 1913, aged 79, and was buried in Llanbeblig Cemetery on November 11.