Gavin Clarke describes the significance and development of LEO by Joseph Lyons and company. The link below is to the Article in the Register. Please note that when you access it first your view will be limited but if you register you will be able to read the whole document and see the images.
Mavis is named after Mavis Hinds. Mavis worked on all the earliest computers used by the Met Office to develop Numerical Weather Prediction from a theory into an operational process.
She started working on the Lyons Electric LEO 1 which was owned by the Lyons catering company, followed by the Ferranti Mark 1 computer at Manchester University. Her team worked on it by night whilst university academics, including Alan Turing, used it during the day.
Her work and that of her team proved that computers could be used to produce fast, accurate weather forecasts, and paved the way for the Met Office to purchase its first computer, which was nicknamed ‘Meteor’. This was then followed by ‘Comet’, which produced the first operational forecast by Numerical Weather Prediction on 2 November 1965.
See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2024/historic-met-office-figures-included-in-2024-25-storm-names
Mavis Hinds, programmer for the Met office named for 2025 Storm. Read More »
LOLA was a consortium of London local authorities which absorbed the computer interests the London Boroughs Management Services Unit (LBMSU) in who had acquired the last LEO III in 1967. It was in use until 1974 when IBM developed a LEO emulator to allow easy transfer of the workload to a 360/50 acquired by LOLA.
LOLA London Online Local Authorities. Read More »
February 2023
Richard Sharp reviews LEO Remembered.
LEO Remembered edited by Hilary Caminer and Lisa-Jane McGerty, published by Leo Computers Society, Second edition, 2022, available here.
LEO Remembered – a Review by Richard Sharp (AIT) Read More »
The AIT Trust have provided funding for a new archivist to work at the Centre for Computing History for 2 years on their extensive and unique LEO archive. The new post is named in honour of 96-year-old twins Frank and Ralph Land, both of whom worked on LEO in its early days, dedicating themselves since retiring to ensuring LEO’s pioneering work is widely recognised in the history of computing.
Press Release
Cambridge Network: 96-year-old twins inspire welcome boost to LEO heritage: Read More »
Retiring LEO III/43 360 28 January 1977
You can read the article at ITNOW Volume 66 in the event there is a paywall there is a brief summary below as well as the original Press Release.
A project celebrating the world’s first business computer took a highly commended second place in the BCS IT Industry Awards’ charities category. The project explores the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) — a machine remembered as the world’s first business computer and that, more importantly, kept tea and cake flowing across the UK during the early 20th century.
Backed by the National Lottery and produced jointly by the Leo Conservation Society and the Cambridge Located Centre for Computing History, Virtual LEO 1 brings to life the original LEO computer. See more about Virtual LEO I here
The article additionally notes the short documentory film telling the LEO story produced as part of the project and available for public viewing on You Tube, and itself an award winner Viewable Here
The original Press release is on the LCS Website Here
Copyright © 2024 LEOPEDIA
At a meeting held annually to reward achievements in the IT industry the LEO Computers Society (LCS) and the Centre for Computing History (CCH) were awarded 2nd place (‘Highly Commended’) in the charities category of the BCS’s UK IT awards. This was for the successful Virtual LEO l application.
Published in the Computer Conservation Society Journal Resurrection Issue 104 Spring 2024
The Original Press release can be viewed Here
Copyright © 2024 LEOPEDIA
Billy Dalziel of the Corby Heritage centre gave a presentation about Stewart and Lloyds and the LEO II installed at the Corby Steelworks. The presentation was on 05 May 2023 and can be viewed at the LEO Computer Society Website The presentation is rich in the industrial heritage of the UK and Corby in particular, with photos of the town and smokey steel works. Billy also tells the story of the eventual replacement of the LEO II, by an IBM 360, on the pretext that they needed to do it to handle decimalisation as LEO couldn’t.
Billy Dalziel and Corby Steelworks LEO II: Read More »
| Speaker: | David Holdsworth |
| Date: | Tue 23rd Jan 2024 |
| Time: | 17:00 for 17:30 |
| Location: | Manchester Metropolitan University. John Dalton Building, Room E0.05 |
David Holdsworth – The Leo III Reloaded: Read More »