Abstract
Returning to Moston, we describe Ferranti’s efforts to recruit a team of programmers and house them in a special prefabricated building known affectionately as the Tin Hut. What is remarkable about Ferranti’s team of programmers was its size, skill and its high proportion of females—in these respects out-shining competitor groups elsewhere in the UK. One of the wisest people in the Tin Hut was the Australian John Bennett. He suggested some desirable enhancements to the instruction set of the Ferranti Mark I. After much debate, the upgraded version known as the Mark I* (Mark One Star) was launched. Thereafter, the remaining seven members of the Mark I family to be built were of the Star variety. Meanwhile, down in London a group of engineers who had left a rival manufacturer had persuaded Ferranti Ltd. to embark upon the design of a smaller and cheaper computer to be called Pegasus. When this finally entered the market in 1956 it was to prove somewhat of a rival to the Ferranti Mark I*.
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Notes
- 1.
Mary-Lee Berners-Lee: An Interview Conducted by Janet Abbate for the IEEE History Center, 12 September 2001. Interview #578 for the IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. See: https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee#About_Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee. The IEEE History Center has a collection of more than 800 oral histories in electrical and computer technology which can be accessed via http://ethw.org/Oral-History:List_of_all_Oral_Histories.
- 2.
Mary-Lee Berners-Lee: An Interview Conducted by Janet Abbate for the IEEE History Center, 12 September 2001. Interview #578 for the IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. See: https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee#About_Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee. The IEEE History Center has a collection of more than 800 oral histories in electrical and computer technology which can be accessed via http://ethw.org/Oral-History:List_of_all_Oral_Histories.
- 3.
Mary-Lee Berners-Lee: An Interview Conducted by Janet Abbate for the IEEE History Center, 12 September 2001. Interview #578 for the IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. See: https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee#About_Mary_Lee_Berners-Lee. The IEEE History Center has a collection of more than 800 oral histories in electrical and computer technology which can be accessed via http://ethw.org/Oral-History:List_of_all_Oral_Histories.
- 4.
Wilkes, M.V., D.J. Wheeler, and S. Gill. 1951. The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer. Published by Addison-Wesley.
- 5.
Meeting to be held at Manchester University, Friday 13th April 1951 to discuss proposals for the Ferranti Mk II computer. This document consists of a one-page notice of the meeting followed by John Bennett’s proposal consisting of 17 typed foolscap pages which appear to have no formal heading or date. From the pencilled marginal notes, this is Tom Kilburn’s copy. Evidently there was an accompanying letter that has not survived. The document is preserved as NAHC/MUC/2/C/8.
- 6.
A collection of Alan Turing’s correspondence between April 1949 and June 1954 is held at the University of Manchester Library, Reference; GB 133 TUR/Add. The listing can be seen at: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/4f6c3f0c-9a70-33c5-bd03-df331fb06146?terms=%22BBC%22; Of particular relevance to Chap. 4 is this item: Tur/Add/19, April/May 1951: Exchange between Audrey Bates (Ferranti Ltd.) and Turing concerning his advice on technical aspects of the Ferranti Mark I. Includes copies of a meeting between Turing and Ferranti staff on 20th April 1951 (2-page report) and Turing’s additional comments of 30th April 1951 (2 pages).
- 7.
Meeting to be held at Manchester University, Friday 13th April 1951 to discuss proposals for the Ferranti Mk II computer. This document consists of a one-page notice of the meeting followed by John Bennett’s proposal consisting of 17 typed foolscap pages which appear to have no formal heading or date. From the pencilled marginal notes, this is Tom Kilburn’s copy. Evidently there was an accompanying letter that has not survived. The document is preserved as NAHC/MUC/2/C/8.
- 8.
A collection of Alan Turing’s correspondence between April 1949 and June 1954 is held at the University of Manchester Library, Reference; GB 133 TUR/Add. The listing can be seen at: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/4f6c3f0c-9a70-33c5-bd03-df331fb06146?terms=%22BBC%22; Of particular relevance to Chap. 4 is this item: Tur/Add/19, April/May 1951: Exchange between Audrey Bates (Ferranti Ltd.) and Turing concerning his advice on technical aspects of the Ferranti Mark I. Includes copies of a meeting between Turing and Ferranti staff on 20th April 1951 (2-page report) and Turing’s additional comments of 30th April 1951 (2 pages).
- 9.
R. A. Brooker, telephone conversation with the author, 1st October 2015.
- 10.
Ferranti High Speed Digital Computer No. 3. Document DC6, Ferranti Moston, March 1952. 6 typed pages. No author is given but one may infer that it was written by J. M. Bennett. See NAHC/NRDC/C5/7: Computers, Manchester University/Ferranti Development, vol. I. Reports, etc., 1951–52.
- 11.
Letter dated 15th May 1952 from Christopher Strachey (whilst still a master at Harrow School) to H. J. Crawley of NRDC. NAHC/NRDC/C5/7.
- 12.
Letter dated 21st May 1952 from Christopher Strachey to H. J. Crawley (NRDC). NAHC/NRDC/C5/7.
- 13.
Maller, V.A.J. 1980. Information Retrieval Using the Content Addressable File Store. In Information Processing 80, The Proceedings of IFIP Congress, Tokyo/Melbourne, 187–192. Published by North-Holland.
- 14.
Kilburn, T., D.B.G. Edwards, M.J. Lanigan, and F.H. Sumner. 1962. One Level Storage System. IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers EC-11 (2): 223–235.
- 15.
Internal NRDC file note by H. J. Crawley, dated 6th June 1952. See: NAHC/NRD/C7/5.
- 16.
Schedule 1: Specification for computing machines. Final draft, 18th July 1952. Nine typed foolscap pages, no author indicated. See NAHC/NRD/C7/5.
- 17.
Note for File from the Managing Director (NRDC): Electronic Computers. 1st May 1952. This is a two-page typed foolscap document, summarising a long discussion that had taken place between Halsbury Hennessey, Crawley and Bowden on 29th April 1952. See NAHC/NRD/C9/1a.
- 18.
Some surviving log books from the Manchester University’s Ferranti Mark I computer, 1951–58, are preserved in: NAHC/MUC/2/C6.
- 19.
Allan Ellson, e-mail of 21st September 2015 to Simon Lavington.
- 20.
Note for File from the Managing Director (NRDC): Electronic Computers. 1st May 1952. This is a two-page typed foolscap document, summarising a long discussion that had taken place between Halsbury Hennessey, Crawley and Bowden on 29th April 1952. See NAHC/NRD/C9/1a.
- 21.
Lavington, Simon. 2011. Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947–67. Springer. ISBN 978-1-84882-932-9.
- 22.
In this form of delay-line memory, electronic pulses were converted into shock waves (vibrations) that travelled along a piece of nickel wire and were detected and re-converted into electronic pulses at the receiving end. Two forms of shock waves could be employed: longitudinal or torsional, the latter being preferred in later versions of the memory system. The original research is described here: (a) Millership, R., R.C. Robbins, and A.E. De Barr. 1951. Magnetostriction Storage Systems for High-Speed Digital Computers. British Journal of Applied Physics 2 (10): 304.; (b) De Barr, A.E. 1953. Digital Storage Using Ferromagnetic Materials. The Elliott Journal 1 (4): 116–120. See also Borehamwood Internal Research Reports numbers 309 dated 30th December 1952 and 325 dated 22nd February 1953.
- 23.
Lavington, Simon, Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947–67.
- 24.
M. H. (Harry) Johnson , My work with computers: from the Ferranti Mark I to the ICT 1900 (1952–1966). 84-page typed manuscript, circulated privately, June 2002. By 1953 Harry Johnson was working for the Operational Research Group of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He had already gained practical programming experience on the Cambridge EDSAC, the NPL Pilot ACE and the Ferranti Mark I.
- 25.
Bell, C.G., and A. Newell. 1971. Computer Structures: Readings and Examples. McGraw-Hill. This classic book carefully analyses the architectures of a wide range of computers designed before 1970.
- 26.
Lavington, Simon, Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947–67.
- 27.
Lavington, Simon. 2000. The Pegasus Story; A History of a Vintage British Computer. Published by the Science Museum, London. ISBN 1-900747-40-5.
- 28.
Hendry, John. 1989. Innovating for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer industry. Published by the MIT Press.
- 29.
Letter dated 25th May 1954 from Bernard Swann (Ferranti) to Hennessey (NRDC). See NAHC/NRD/C9/1.
- 30.
Note: NAHC refers to the National Archive for the History of Computing, which is held in the University of Manchester’s Library.
References
Note: NAHC refers to the National Archive for the History of Computing, which is held in the University of Manchester’s Library.
Bell, C.G., and A. Newell. 1971. Computer Structures: Readings and Examples. McGraw-Hill.
De Barr, A.E. 1953. Digital Storage Using Ferromagnetic Materials. The Elliott Journal 1 (4): 116–120.
Hendry, John. 1989. Innovating for Failure: Government Policy and the Early British Computer industry. Published by the MIT Press.
Kilburn, T., D.B.G. Edwards, M.J. Lanigan, and F.H. Sumner. 1962. One Level Storage System. IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers EC-11 (2): 223–235.
Lavington, Simon. 2000. The Pegasus Story; A History of a Vintage British Computer. London: Published by the Science Museum. ISBN 1-900747-40-5.
Lavington, Simon. 2011. Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947–67. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-1-84882-932-9.
Maller, V.A.J. 1980. Information Retrieval Using the Content Addressable File Store. In Information Processing 80, The Proceedings of IFIP Congress, Tokyo/Melbourne, 187–192. Published by North-Holland.
Millership, R., R.C. Robbins, and A.E. De Barr. 1951. Magnetostriction Storage Systems for High-Speed Digital Computers. British Journal of Applied Physics 2 (10): 304.
Wilkes, M.V., D.J. Wheeler, and S. Gill. 1951. The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer. Published by Addison-Wesley.
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Lavington, S. (2019). A Star Is Born: Ideas and Upgrades. In: Early Computing in Britain. History of Computing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15103-4_4
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