Short answers, pulled from the story.
Francis Ronalds demonstrated electric telegraphy in 1816 by strung eight miles of iron wire between wooden frames. He powered the system with high-voltage friction machines to show that electric telegraphy could work over a substantial distance.
John Frederic Daniell invented the Daniell cell in 1836 to solve the problem of falling voltage caused by hydrogen bubbles forming around copper electrodes. This innovation allowed continuous operation without the rapid degradation seen in earlier voltaic piles.
The Great Western Railway installed the world's first commercial telegraph in 1838 from Paddington station to West Drayton. The cables were originally laid underground but insulation began to fail quickly before Cooke replaced them with a two-needle system using only intact wires.
William Fothergill Cooke and financier John Lewis Ricardo formed the Electric Telegraph Company in 1846. By 1859, they relocated their London central office to bigger premises in Great Bell Alley, Moorgate.
The United Kingdom Electric Telegraph Act passed in 1862 enabled government regulation but did not mandate immediate takeover. Parliament subsequently passed the Telegraph Act 1868 giving the Post Office right to purchase private companies through commercial negotiation.
The Telegraph Act 1870 created a Post Office monopoly taking effect on the 1st of January 1870. It excluded submarine cable operators without landlines from nationalisation while extending coverage to Channel Islands and Isle of Man.