There’s a computer language
called ADA. Presently it controls everything from banking to air traffic
control system to the United States Defence Department. It’s named after the
pioneering mathematician Ada Lovelace and here I am
at the church where she was buried in 1852.
Her first name was Augusta and she was born into
aristocracy - her dad was the famed romantic poet Lord Byron, the biggest
celebrity in Britain at the time. She never knew him as within a month of being
born her parents split up. She never saw her dad again; he soon left England
and died in Greece when Ada was eight years old.
Her mum was worried Ada
might inherit her dad’s wild and tempestuous nature (she didn't permit her to
read her dad’s poetry or see portraits of him.) She steered her analytical
daughter toward mathematics. In those days women weren’t educated but Ada was tutored in the sciences and mathematics. Aged 19
she married William Lord King who became Earl of Lovelace and they would have three
children together.
At this age Ada also
began a long working friendship with Charles Babbage (often called the father
of modern computing.) She was fascinated by his work on the Difference Engine
which was a mammoth calculator. Ada could see that
computers could do more than calculate numbers and it’s though she wrote the
first computer program which would calculate complex formulas. For the first time the results from computers
could be trusted and didn’t have to be checked by humans. Aged 27 she could program
a machine to weave her algebraic patterns that would unlock early computers.
Where Babbage saw numbers in maths she saw music.
She was not happily married and had an affair
with John Cross to whom she left her few possessions. Sadly she died aged 36
after being plagued by ill health for many years. It’s thought she had uterine
cancer. She underwent the standard treatment at the time which was bloodletting
which hastened her death. While she was dying she told her husband something
that made him leave her bedside immediately and never return (nobody knows what
she said.) Despite not knowing her famous dad her last wish was that she be
buried alongside him in the family vault at the church shown here. A crown
adorns her coffin. She returned to the shadow of her dad's fame.
That Sunday afternoon I arrived at the church in Hucknall and guessed it would be open for curious people
like me. No luck though so I was left to wander around the small churchyard. Unable
to stand above her bones I've had to use some photos of the burial spot from a
documentary. Ada’s image can also be seen on the
Microsoft product authenticity hologram stickers. The British Computer Society
annually awards a medal in her name.
I knew Lord Byron had another child (died aged 5)
and thought she may be buried here too but she was the result of a brief liason and considered illegitimate. For some reason I
imagined Lord Byron would be buried in the grounds the family’s ancestral home Newstead Abbey which isn’t far from the grave (his dog is
buried there) but he's here. This is the second time I've visited and found the
church closed. I had a coffee in the car park which is looked upon by a caring
of Lord Byron. Sadly he still seems to be the famous one. I did a salute and
left.