Anonymous:-Anonymous note retrieved by John Daines ICL set up the Scottish Development Centre at Dalkeith House in late 1970 and transferred all the System 4 software support from Kidsgrove. That would have included the System 4 Cleo compiler that, I suspect, compiled directly into native code; not via intercode. The aim was to free up […]
Anonymous:-LEO and its early attempt to use Magnetic Tape The LEO design team attempted to use Magnetic Tape in its early design and worked with Standard Telephone and Cables to provide the required capability. Ernest Lenaerts reports in his diaries on the failure of the venture. Below is the Standard Telephone and Cables own account […]
John Aeberhard:-John Aeberhard: Reminiscences around LEOI was late on the scene as far as LEO was concerned. I joined EELM as press officer in August 1966. My joining just happened to coincide with the publication of the very first issue of Computer Weekly and my first engagement was lunch with Jim Bonnett, the paper’s editor. A […]
Peter Baker:-Peter Baker, Operator, then Programmer Tote Investments. From 1962 to 1964 I worked as a Saturday job in the Lyons Tea Shop in Dalston. On getting my A Levels I joined Tote Investors Limited in New Bridge Street near Ludgate Circus London. I was interviewed by Alan Williams and was offered and accepted the job […]
Brian Beagley:-Brian Beagley Brian Beagley doing a vacation job as a Schoolboy in the mid 1950’s was offered an engineering job, mentored by John Pinkerton at the LEO manufacturing sites and contributed to the work being carried out. He carries a lifetime memory of those days. He went on the have a very full life in […]
Claire Brent-Meek:-Claire Brent-Meek Applied for a job as programmer in Johannesburg in 1965. She passed the QUIS aptitude test but decided to complete her education and declined a job offer. The letter below from the South African LEO company is of interest:
Maurice Bonney:-Maurice Bonney: DOB: 1932 Abstract: Maurice Bonney was a mathematician who had early experience of working with LEO as head of a group of programmers involved with aerodynamic calculations for missile technology working in the British aircraft industry, and using LEO as a bureau facility. Later in his career he worked for Renold […]
Graham Briscoe:-Graham Briscoe LEO III , IBM 360 and Phoenix Insurance. – Recollections My first computer experience was with Tube Investments in the Midlands working in the early 1960s on an IBM 1401 for their Steel Tube Division, then supporting as a Company Systems Analyst a conversion onto an IBM 360 system – initially a /20 […]
Tom Brooks:-Tom Brooks Joined LEO as a programmer in 1963 as his first job after graduating. After learning Intercode and later CLEO became working with Renold Chains and subsequently on a number of Post Office applications. After his days working with LEO became involved with the Marconi Myriad. He reports on the first experimental use of braille […]
Peter Byford:-Peter Byford: LEO entered a team for the Lyons Pennant sports day competition open to all Lyons groups. They won the competition in 1962 and again in 1964. A group photograph showing Peter Byford holding the Pennant is shown on page 98 of the first edition of LEO Remembered. A photograph of the 1964 Pennant […]
LEO Reunion 19th October 1984:-LEO Reunion 19th October 1984 – The Rugby Club, Hallam St., London 120 people, all ex-staff of Joe Lyons own computer company, met to renew old acquaintances and to celebrate old memories of the World’s first commercial computer LEO l and its descendants LEO ll and LEO lll. All five of the surviving LEO directors […]
Tony Carrol:-One interesting occurrence happened on 10th July 1968, but cannot be part of my talk on LEO, was that our computer (a KDF9 by this time) was flooded to a depth of about two feet. As luck would have it, the workload on another KDF9 had just been transferred onto an IBM 360 (?) and […]
Linda M Chapman (nee Robertson):-Linda M Chapman (nee Robertson) “I worked in Hartree House as a junior programmer between 1963 and 1965. I have memories of the excellent training and supervision which far exceeded anything else which I came across in my 30 years as a programmer
Helen Clews (nee Garsed):-Helen Clews (nee Garsed) I joined Leo Computers on 24th September 1962, starting with the five-week basic course at Hartree House. From October 1962 to early 1963 I was in the mathematical programming section at Minerva Road, Acton. In early 1963 I was transferred to the Training and Technical Writing section at Hartree House where […]
Alistair Cochrane:-Alistair Cochrane – LEO II I was an operator for several years on the Leo machine at Stewarts and Lloyds in Corby. Attached is a piece I wrote some years ago for the local heritage centre regarding the running of the weekly payroll for the steel works and tube works on the Corby site. See […]
Doug Comish:-Doug Comish: Sporting ReminiscenceInformation about Lyons Sports Day activities: I did take part in one of them but having got changed into football kit the opposition failed to turn up!However I can recall one interesting cricket match we played at Sudbury.The Programming section challenged the rest of LEO and I was appointed Captain of the […]
Mike Cowlard:-Mike Cowlard, Reminiscences of a LEO Operator Left School with two O levels (Maths and English. Joined GPO as Clerical Officer. Always good with figures quickly promoted. Advised that he might get faster promotion outside GPO noted adverts for computer jobs. Tried Heinz and Lyons doing well in aptitude tests. Offered job by Peter Bird, […]
Dick Cromwell:-Dick Cromwell Leo memories – I went to LEO II at Elms House Hammersmith in February 1959. I left in April 1963 to start LEO III training. I started as an Assistant Engineer, then Shift Engineer and finally in July 1962 became Chief Engineer at the site. I moved on to LEO III/16 and took […]
John Daines:-John Daines: Reminiscence The Glyn Mills payroll paid people by Credit Transfer rather than by cheque**. It was at the start of each bank branch having a sort code as well as folk having account numbers. We produced a payslip and a credit transfer (Credit Advices on the pic). There was a tape that contained […]
Ray Dawson:-Ray Dawson, Reminiscences published in Bits and Bytes, Newsletter for ICL Pensioners. Autumn 2000, pages 3-4, and https://www.dropbox.com/s/pvn23zfn0p6ylwf/Ray%20Dawson%20Reminiscences.docx?dl=0 JD also remembers the Master Routine: I have listings of the master routine and it was written in Intercode.Intercode itself was a level above machine code and, although a instruction looked to be an equivalent to a machine […]
John Daines:-John Daines November 2021 I’ve always assumed that P1, P2 and P3 are constituent programs of the L3 suite – Bakery Valuations.From reading some of the files, these are very complicated programs and the machine was tiny. The following shows the amount of time involved. From looking at Lenaerts Notebook No 8 page 39 written on […]
John Daines:-John Daines LEO III Programming and Operating UtilitiesAn important utility managed program changes with the Version Control utility implemented in the Intercode Translator. A programme had a 5 digit version number that was incremented by 1 each time the program was amended. See Volume III, section15 at http://sw.ccs.bcs.org/leo/LeoIC6-17.htm#s15 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 last paragraph “New […]
Barbara Dickens:-Barbara Dickens, I was a LEO programmer in Intercode on the Leo 326 installed by the Dept of National Savings. I started in 1968 and was trained by the Post Office trainers before working for DNS at Lytham St Annes. I remember the days very well as I did mainly maintenance which meant finding old code […]
George Drummond:-George Drummond, GPO (BT) –Reminiscence Born in Fife Scotland in Feb 1947.Attended Kirkcaldy High School, then Strathclyde University. Initially applied to the Post Office and was interviewed in Edinburgh for an Executive Officer post ( as they were called in those days ). During the interview I was asked if there were any specific areas […]
John Edwards:-John Edwards Reminiscence after attending Neville Lyons Lecture I worked only briefly for Lyons doing Time and Motion Study at Cadby Hall. It was in fact an interim job as I resumed my degree work at London University. I was making the most of a grant to study after wartime service as a navigating officer […]
Stan Evans:-Stan Evans, Maintenance Engineer on LEO I and LEO II, joined LEO 1956 Date of Birth: Born 23/09/26 I never realised that my life was about to dramatically change when l went to Joe Lyons at Cadby Hall in 1956. for an interview for a job as maintenance engineer working on their first computer they […]
Stan Evans:-Stan Evans Review of John Daines Zoom forum presentation on 14th July 2021 and reminiscence of TRT in action:John Daines was brilliant . Not only the very professional way he gave the presentation but the many items of news I did not know. In particular those related to TRT in the war. Also Lyons running successfully a war effort factory.One memory […]
Professor Stephen Evans:-Professor Stephen Evans I was interviewed by John Pinkerton prior to my graduating from Keele University in 1966. I was offered by Dr Pinkerton, sponsorship to do a PhD in any subject in any University that I wished (it’s possible I still have that letter but can’t put my hand on it now).I didn’t want […]
Mike Finlay:-Mike Finlay Memories of LEO I was born in on 18th April 1937 a true Londoner within the sounds of Bow Bell, did my National Service between 1955 and 1957 at the RAF Air Radar School as an RAF Radar Theory instructor, and then studied at Jesus College, Cambridge for the Natural Science Tripos Part […]
John Fletcher:-John Fletcher, I was a maintenance engineer for approximately 20 months on the Leo 3 at British Steel site Ravenscraig Motherwell in the late 60’s. I was employed by English Electric Computers at that time who also serviced the process control computers in the strip mill. Our Leo training took place at the Post Office […]
John Simon Florentin:-John Simon Florentin, Computer Operator I used to work on Leo III’s at Shell Mex’s computer centre in Hemel in about 1965-67. I thought I had better write something about this before I disappear for good. They had two of these machines that were to us exactly the same. All this was on the lowest […]
John Forbes:-John Forbes, Reminiscences. Joined Leo in early 1960. Did a few ‘odd jobs’ for Leo ll. In summer was told that I was to lead a small team writing an Intercode Translator for Leo lll. My immediate questions were, “What is Intercode?” “What is a Translator?” With a small team created Intercode translatorWorking closely with […]
Bill Forfar:-I was dozing on the settee when I became aware of LEO on the screen and Wendy Craig uttering the words Lyons Electronic Office. Bill Forfar: Reminiscence – Article – Computing History
Wendy Forward:-My mother, Wendy Elizabeth Forward, was a computer programmer during the early 1960s in London before embarking upon overseas travel She read mathematics at Reading University, and graduated from there in July 1963 (her degree certificate says ‘Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Geography, resulting in a BSc Honours 3rd class). She was a programmer on the […]
Nigel Furness:-Nigel Furness, I was involved in 1981 in decommissioning the Bristol machine, LEO III-70 which was a 326 model (editor: the last LEO). Prior to decommissioning I had been employed as a systems engineer to provide engineering support for this machine. I had been trained at Charles House which was a BT (formerly GPO) installation, […]
John Godwin:-John Godwin : LEO Programmer Johannesburg: Worked in the Johannesburg Bureau from 1964 until 1986 when I moved to the then holding company. Originally we were part of the Rand Mines Group of companies. The mining houses were our main customers for whom we ran payrolls, stores and share transfers. For full reminiscences see Center […]
Jeff Goodenough :-Jeff Goodenough, LEO engineer. One of my main programming achievements in between mending LE-1 units, was to add the “om tiddly om pom – pom pom” tune to the end of a little program which verified (I think) magnetic tapes! (Much to the amusement of the operators.)
John Goodwin :-John Goodwin I worked on LEO II/4 for the Ford Motor company, & I’m the sole entry in your list of addressees that did genuinely work on that machine; one of the two others worked on II/11, & the other worked for LEO on II/8?, & joined Ford after II/4 had been scrapped.I notice that you […]
Emil Gottwald:- Emil Gottwald: I joined LEO Computers in 1964 after graduating from Queen Mary College in London with a degree in physics. It was right in the middle of the boom in semiconductors, and even though I had specialised in solid state physics the prospect of working with semiconductors did not appeal to me, so I […]
Valerie Grose:-Valerie Grose I had the somewhat dubious distinction of being the first girl in Londonto complete the Gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Scheme (only because I was in thefirst intake of girls to start when it was introduced). On the photograph I am showing Mr& Mrs Simmons the work two younger girls are […]
Valerie Grose:-Valerie Grose ReminiscencesI have read the fascinating article (that mentions Nigella). Actually her grandfather MrFelix Salmon was our “in-line direct director” with secretary, Miss Patterson. One ofmy colleague’s father was Mr Felix’s chauffeur and when a child she played withVanessa, Nigella’s mother. As previously stated, other than Mr Frank Land I knewmost of the other […]
Peter Guest:-Peter Guest b.1934, died 1995 aged 61, LEO Maintenance EngineerMargaret Guest, his widow writes: Peter’s education badly disrupted during Wartime,leaving Wm. Penn School, Peckham, London aged 16 in 1951. Attended WoolwichPolytechnic 1951-55 for part time day release, obtained ONC in civil engineering whileworking for Sir Murdock MacDonald & Partners as a trainee draughtsman. Further HNDstudies […]
Gloria Guy:-Gloria Guy, LEO Computer Society Committee memberMy very first employment was in 1952 with Jo Lyons at Elms House and have a looseconnection with Coventry Street Corner House. Sadly, I wasn’t a Nippy but once Lyonshad trained me to use a calculator in their own training school, my job consisted of addingup all the bills […]
Michael Guy:-Michael Guy LEO Master Routine – The Birth of Software Engineering?Michael Guy joined LEO straight from Wadham College, Oxford in 1962 with amathematics degree. After two years working on the Master Routine he left to do a PhDat Newcastle University in integer programming. After two years working for WigginsTeape in their systems development department he […]
Michael Hancock:-Michael Hancock I was Shell Mex and BP’s chief programmer when we acquired ourfirst Leo III in 1963 (no 6) and was involved in the studies and decisions which led to itsacquisition. We later acquired another Leo III and 2 Leo 326’s which were considerablyfaster. Our computer centres were in Hemel Hempstead and Wythenshawe. Leo […]
Douglas Hartree:-Douglas Hartree and LEO (from Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hartree)Hartree’s fourth and final major contribution to British computing started in early1947 when the catering firm of J. Lyons & Co. in London heard of the ENIAC and sent asmall team in the summer of that year to study what was happening in the USA, becausethey felt that these new […]
Andrew Herbert: The EDSAC Rebuild at TNMoC-Presentation Friday 26 April, 2024 at 17.00 BST by Andrew Herbert on the EDSAC Rebuild at TNMoC. A recording is available here Zoom Recording. Andrew commented the following in the abstract.While EDSAC can justifiably claim to have been ‘the world’s first practical digital electronic stored program computer’, as is well-known to the LEO community, Pinkerton, Lenaerts and colleagues had to […]
Marie Hicks Twitter Message:-In 1964 the inimitable Dame Stephanie ran this advert in The Times, seeking programmers for her startup. “Ant-feminists need not apply”-plus opportunities for women who’d retired
Denis Hitchens:-Denis Hitchens. Operator on LEO III/15 at Shell AustraliaNeil Lamming interviewed me and conducted the aptitude test. But the person I wasreally trying to dredge from my memory was Bill Cheek who along with Jack Dankertencouraged me to return to full-time study. I was 19 and 20 at the time, turning 21 abouta fortnight before […]
Brian Hobson:-Brian Hobson: I am glad that you, (Hilary Caminer), were able to attend our recent“LEO do” as chaotic as it was! You asked if I would explain the origins of our group andalso to help you understand our Lyons/LEO relationship as it seemed rather confusing.I will do my best. The meeting started when Norman Beasley […]
Colin Hobson:-Colin Hobson: Weather, Wildlife and LEO ComputersBoth LEO 1 and the LEO 2s were not installed in cosy, air-conditioned palaces. They wentinto normal office accommodation and the heat, generated by the hundreds of thermionicvalves was conducted away by fans and overhead ducting. The operators were kept coolonly if they could open the office windows! This […]
Colin Hobson:-Colin Hobson adds I was worked on LEO 1 and subsequent machines but am not sureabout recordings. LEO 1 certainly did make a noise but I have a vague recollection thatthe speaker was not in the original hardware but in the dexion operators console, whichwas a later addition.LEO 1 was on a platform at one […]
David Holdsworth:-David Holdsworth – I went to state schools in the then West Riding of Yorkshire, where the Director of Education was Alec Clegg, well-known for his left-wing views. As a result, I left a co-ed comprehensive school in 1961 and went on to read Physics at Oxford University following a few months working in the works […]
Stan Holwill:-Stan Holwill: My LEO Involvement & Memories January 2018 Date of birth 1932.Abstract: Stan started his working life in 1947, with an interest in engineering, at anelectrical engineerg firm Clifford & Snell in Sutton Surrey.I served a five years engineering apprenticeship. During this time I spent one day a weekat Wimbledon Technical College studying for […]
Alan Hooker:-Alan Hooker memoir.Alan Hooker’s reminiscences: here is what I remember of my time at LEO. Some of the datesarea bit vague and might be suspect but then that describes me now!I’ve also included notes on my visit to New Zealand which you might find interesting. In 1963 itwas like pre-war Britain and that scenario has […]
Barry Hooper:-Barry Hooper, Programmer Shell AustraliaI remember my LEO programming days. Such fun and so stimulating to see what youhave programmed do its job. That LEO was remarkable and its origins amazing. I was sosorry at Shell to see the LEO go and an inferior computer put in I its place. Its only assetwas direct access […]
Carole Hynam:-I came to be working for W.D. and H. O. Wills in Bristol because although I had always wanted to go to Art School, I came from a family that had never gone into further education (because in our section of society you had to be very well off or gain a scholarship.) Even though I was […]
Roy Irons:-Roy Irons, one of Ilford Ltd LEO 2/9 computer operator:The British Oxygen LEO 2/8 was in Edmonton, North London where they had a factory,distribution and offices. There was also a LEO 2 in the Slough area, I remember going overthere once, at night!Another thought occurred to me, modern day ‘computer experts’ would not realise thatin […]
Bill Jack:-Bill Jack, English Electric Engineer (team leader) Ravenscraig LEO III, recollection.The Leo III was acquired by the Colvilles Group Engineering Department on behalf of theRavenscraig Works. They had already installed the KDN2 on the Slab Mill. I was a youngengineer in the department and was sent to Kidsgrove to learn about the KDN2. When theLeo […]
Helen Jackson (nee Clark):-Helen Jackson (nee Clark)Born June 1936 in Wigan, I was the youngest of 3 daughters to a manager at the local coalmine.At the age of five I was sent to a private preparatory school, to which even at that age I wentby myself on two buses each way. From this school I passed the 11 […]
Paul Kelley:-Paul KelleyI worked in the Engineering Training Department July 64-August 68 – first at MinervaRoad and then at Radley House in South Ealing. I began on LEO III (never worked on the326 or 360) until switching to System 4 in early 65.I have in my possession a complete set of LEO III logic diagrams and […]
Mike Josephs:-Mike Josephs: BeginningsThis is in the nature of a bit of self – indulgence. I want to talk about my early days in thefledgling computer industry back in 1957 and thereabouts. Before doing so I want towelcome a new recruit to our circulation list: David Caminer, who must surely be the mostsenior of us all, […]
Professor Alan Kay:-Professor Alan KayFrom Professor Alan Kay distinguished American Computer Scientist known for his work on Objectoriented coding and winner of the Turing Award in 2003.I knew Maurice Wilkes slightly many years ago, Roger Needham years ago, and mostrecently have met Andrew Herbert. The latter two had spent some time at Xerox Parc, and itwas Andrew […]
Stephen B. Knowles:-Stephen B. Knowles, was an Operator who became a programmer in Tea Division, Hismemorabilia include a number of photos of LEO I – seehttps://www.dropbox.com/sh/31e20it50u1lkm9/AABdJQ5oWNfEd5yQoH2x6XsGa?dl=0
Frank Land (with Hilary Caminer):-Frank Land (with Hilary Caminer) – Reminder of a celebration. On the 30thNovember 2021 The partnership between the Centre for Computer History (CCH) andthe LEO Computers Society (LCS) with funding from the National Lottery HeritageFund celebrated the 70th anniversary of the world’s first live business application –Bakery Valuations – by J Lyons & Co on […]
Ernest Lenaerts:-Ernest Lenaerts: Extract from his diaries on the occasion of Princess Elizabeth’s visit toCadby Hall on 15 February 1951, including a demonstration of LEO I performing testcalculations.▪ HRH was no more and no less impressed than I had expected. The information “printed atthe bottom which provided some light relief. Fortunately LEO made few mistakes –obviously […]
Stewart Logan:-Stewart Logan, LEO III at RavenscraigColvilles Ltd., Ravenscraig SteelworksA Short Description of the Leo3/32 Production Planning & Control SystemIntroductionColvilles Ltd. Steelmakers installed a Leo 3 (No.32) in their Ravenscraig Worksin Motherwell in 1963. In 2021, Dr. William (Bill) Jack, leader of the systemsdevelopment team described in a paper to the Leo Computers Society the systemsdeveloped […]
Ron Marshall:-Ron MarshallI worked on Leo II at Cadby Hall and Leo III/1 at Hartree House as a technician.I had become disillusioned with the Banking and Insurance industries which formed thebasis of my first work experience.I joined Leo Computers in early 1960 – I had previously been working on teleprinters atthe GPO and Leo were looking […]
Joe McNulty:-Joe McNulty DOB: 1940 Joined LEO: 1966Role in LEO: Site Maintenance Engineer LEO III; System 4Abstract: Born in Northern Ireland, father miner, mother textile worker, moved withlarge family to village in Northumberland, failed 11+, educated in local elementaryschool till age of 15 without any qualifications or certificates. One brother was anapprentice electrician at a local […]
Chris Metcalf-Chris MetcalfI fell out of secondary school at 16 in the late 1960s after failing most of my GCEs andjoined the Civil Service in central London filing bits of paper as a temporary clericalofficer. After failing to join ICL my father thankfully suggested I get a transfer (withoutinterview!) to the Census Office computer section at […]
Ross Milbourne:-Ross Milbourne Memoir and Tribute to Lyons, LEO and its people.I have lived and worked with computers in industry all of my life, and have now retired. Ithas also been a lifelong hobby, as well as helping pay to bring up my family. The career Ifollowed, from COBOL Computer Programmer in the 1970s, to I.T. […]
Peter Mills:-Peter Mills, MemoirsAfter National Service, where he was first involved and trained in electronicengineering, and being demobbed in 1954, Peter responded to an advertisement placed byLyons for a job as an electronic/mechanical engineer. Following an aptitude test Peter wasoffered a job to join LEO. He spent the next few years helping to keep first LEO […]
Andrew Murison:-Andrew Murison, Northwhich. I have just read your article in the February issue of Third Age Matters – I am a member of the Winsford, Cheshire, U3A. In the 1950s and 1960s I worked at Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd. Corby steelworks, who installed a Leo computer in 1958. A school friend of mine, having graduated in mathematics […]
Robert Murphy:-Robert Murphy. was the computer programmer on the LEO 326 computer in use for the National Savings Bank in Glasgow. I used Intercode and CLEO. The computer was decommissioned in 1974 with the data and systems transferred to an ICL 4/72.My final task was to print off computer programs and documentation, label them up and package […]
John Oates: -John Oates, I was involved in Systems Design on the Ford Motors Leo 2/11 between 1960 to its decommissioning on the instructions of FORD US to go IBM. In this time I was mainly responsible for a system to control and monitor the introduction of new models which resulted in a massive elapsed time reduction […]
Chris Parker :-Chris Parker, I worked at J Lyons from February 1971 to 1976. My first job was working on the LEO 3/7 and LEO 4/6. I was an operator during the conversion to an IBM365/65 over my first 6 months and, when all the systems had been copied (via a System 4 deck), the LEOs were […]
W.E.J. (John) Parry :-W.E.J. (John) Parry.Abstract: Employed by Stewarts and Lloyds originally as engineer on their LEOII/3 computer and subsequently as programmer. Had received training as electrical engineer while doing extended National Service in RAF and in that capacity witnesses UK H bomb tests in Pacific Islands. Joined Stewarts and Lloyds at Corby after National Service and was transferred […]
John Panter :-John Panter LEO Engineers responding to Request to identify computer depicted in MGM 1968 film “Hot Million” starring Peter Ustinov as criminal computer operator, see entry in Film section below.This brought back a few memories! I can make a few comments.1. I didn’t know Fred Whittaker. I moved from Minerva Rd to Kidsgrove in summer 1965, so left […]
Chris Parker,:-Chris Parker, I worked at J Lyons from February 1971 to 1976. My first job was working on the LEO 3/7 and LEO 4/6. I was an operator during the conversion to an IBM365/65 over my first 6 months and, when all the systems had been copied (via a System 4 deck), the LEOs were […]
W.E.J. (John) Parry:-W.E.J. (John) Parry.Abstract: Employed by Stewarts and Lloyds originally as engineer on their LEOII/3 computer and subsequently as programmer. Had received training as electrical engineer while doing extended National Service in RAF and in that capacity witnesses UK H bomb tests in Pacific Islands. Joined Stewarts and Lloyds at Corby after National Service and was transferred […]
John Paschoud:-John Paschoud on printing Braille programmes. See also Tom Brooks above. I don’t know if I can add much to the Blind Programmers story. I never actually met any (of theblind programmers), and I think it must actually have been when I was Ops SDPO at Barbican NDPS Computer Centre (which was trials and EE System4, […]
Tony Priest:-Tony Priest, visited Cambridge Centre for Computer History, May 2018 and was really happy to hear about partnership with LEO Computers Society and LEO heritage plans. He worked at Hartree House. He was employed as LEO II was being decommissioned and worked on LEO III there. He left a comment on our Facebook page over […]
Geoff Pye:-Geoff Pye: Sporting Reminiscences Tennis. LEO had a team of 6 made up of 3 pairs, organised by John Gosden, to play other Lyons Departments on the courts at Lyons sports club. On each occasion each pair played one set against each one of the other department’s 3 pairs thus totalling 9 sets. The tournament was spread […]
Cynthia Reid:-Cynthia Reid, I was born in Headingley, Leeds in 1935 and from an early age had aninterest in science which was encouraged by my parents. I attended Brudenell PrimarySchool, Bennett Road Junior School and Leeds Girls’ High School. In 1954 I was offeredExhibitions to both Oxford and Cambridge Universities and I elected to read Mathematicsat […]
Chris Reynolds:-Chris Reynolds Born 23 March 1938 in Hertfordshire. Brought up in Somerset &Devon; Six schools attended before age of 13. Dartington Hall School, Totnes, Devon1952-56 (very progressive and unconventional). University College London 1956-1959 –BSc in Chemistry. Exeter University 1959-1962 – PhD in Theoretical OrganicChemistry. After starting a career as an Information Officer at a public […]
Mike Smith:-Mike Smith, Trivial Reminiscences of a LEO Man. Mike had two separatecareers with Lyons. From 1952 to 1959 working in the Bakery Division, leaving Lyons forwhat proved a bad choice, selling insurance, and returning in 1960 as an Operator on LEO,first in Elms House on LEO II and later transferred to Hartree House to work […]
Ray Smith:-Ray Smith, Reminiscences of a LEO III Operator and IntercodeProgrammerRay started as a trainee operator on the LEO III/4 in Greenwich for the London Boroughs’Joint Computer Committee (LBJCC) in 1966. He progressed to a senior operator beforejoining the London Boroughs’ Management Services Unit (LBMSU) in 1968 as a traineeIntercode programmer. The LBMSU provided the programmers […]
Ray Smith:-Ray Smith, Reminiscences of a LEO III Operator and IntercodeProgrammerRay started as a trainee operator on the LEO III/4 in Greenwich for the London Boroughs’Joint Computer Committee (LBJCC) in 1966. He progressed to a senior operator beforejoining the London Boroughs’ Management Services Unit (LBMSU) in 1968 as a traineeIntercode programmer. The LBMSU provided the programmers […]
Eileen Smith:-Eileen Smith Role in Lyons included filling out Lector Forms. I read your article in themagazine with great interest having workedfor J Lyons and Strand Hotels. November 1962 I joined the company as a traineesupervisor in the Corner Houses under the direction of Miss Clancy and Mrs Silverlock. Itwas a 9 month programme followed by […]
Judy Smythson:-Judy Smythson (nee Worrall), Leo career began in 1959 when I was interviewed by theman I was to marry, John Smythson. Little did he realize what a momentous interview thatwould turn out to be! I worked as a programmer at Hartree House under Helen Clark,(later Helen Jackson) for about 4 years until I had my […]
Dag Spicer:-Dag Spicer On Friday 18th February 2022 Dag Spicer, senior curator of the AmericanComputer Museum and American correspondent of the LEO Computers Societypresented the history of the Museum, its holdings and in particular its affection andholdings of material related to LEO. Dag defined the Lyons/LEO story as a promontoryin the evolution of computer use – […]
David Stroll:-David Stroll Joined LEO Computers Society in July 2019. Currently a PhD student atBirkbeck College engaged in researching the history of Works Study and O&M and theirrelationship to Systems Analysis, and with the aim of designing a productivitymeasurement dashboard. His studies followed after a long career in management startingas a Management Trainee with ICL in […]
Sumner, J. (2015):-▪ Sumner, J. (2015), See also in extract from the paper in Articlessection History and Technology, an International Open Access Journal,Volume 30, 2014, Issue 4, pages 309-333 | Published online: 24Feb 2015.https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:261886&datastreamId=POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS.PDF In 1947, J. Lyons and Company, Britain’s leading catering firm, sent twosenior managers to the USA to investigate American systems of officemanagement. Their […]
John Sutherland:-John Sutherland responding to John Aeberhard: I have just finished belatedlyreading your interesting article about the story of LEO and thought you might beinterested in a further development of the story. I started to work for ICL in Dalkeith in 1972As I understand it, at some stage between then and 1975 when I left, some […]
Alison Taylor and Chris Tyson:-Alison Taylor and Chris Tyson, I am a 77 year old graduate of Aberdeen University,now living in Jersey. In the 1950’s we lived in Hastings and my parents would take us upto London to a show, we often used to go to Lyons Corner House for a meal. So I alwaysloved Jo Lyons. I met […]
David Tebbs:-David Tebbs Date of Birth: October 1938, joined LEO 1964 left 1969 Memoir:I joined the company earlier enough to qualify for the society, starting work atHartree House. However, I was assigned mainly onto a KDF 9 client project and then andSystem 4 Sales. My only LEO computer work was self- study of the LEO coding […]
John Thompson:-John Thompson , born 4th January, 1935, joined LEO with no knowledge of computersBut got some very good training and education at the training centre. I worked on theLEO I II and III as maintenance engineer and later at Minerva Road building andinstalling systems I do recall some funny things One year we selected the […]
John Tomlinson, LEO Operator:-John Tomlinson, LEO Operator. Bob Stevenson notes: “The John Tomlinson that I knew was anoperator and shift leader on III/1 in Hartree House. I knew him well and I can’t rememberhim mentioning that he worked on Leo1. The picture is dated in John Bird’s book as1953, which would make John T., pretty young at the […]
Mike Tyzack’s story with Leo computers:-MINISTRY OF PENSIONS & NATIONAL INSURANCEIn 1960 I was working at MPNI in Coventry. Our payroll was put onto a Leo II inJanuary 1961 but I never saw the machine. I do remember that the printer had a limitedcharacter set because instead of using the figure 8 it used capital S and instead of zero […]
Faith Van Rooyen:-I am eighty years old and not in very good health at the moment.I started my career in computers by learning to program in basic machine codeand Intercode, on a Leo II at Whitely house in London in 1959/60.In fact I wrote, in machine code, the ‘Boot strap’ program to load up and start theoperating […]
Alan Wakefield:-Alan Wakefield: On 21 Jun 2019, at 19:56, Alan Wakefield wrote: Dear Hilary, Your note below has prompted me to offer a personal reminiscence of LEO-related activity, or more specifically LEO personnel – related events, and relating in particular to your father, David Caminer. ( If you will permit this!). I was not an original […]
Harry Warner:-Harry Warner: I worked as an operator on the CAV – Lucas, Leo III atActon (High Street ?) from October 1963 to April 1964.One of my clearest (and dearest) memories is of a blond haired engineer (fromSomerset?) who would get the printer to “play” God Save the Queen.I later programmed on the IBM 360 at […]
Tony Weber: LEO Australia.-Tony Weber: LEO Australia. “I was in the founding management group(Accountant/finance director) of the Australian subsidiary in the early 1960’s under themanagement of Peter Gyngell.I had 25 years service with the Leo/ICL group of Companies, which then lead to another30 years in the industry including service in Hong Kong then Boston USA. I spent the […]
Tony Weber: LEO Australia.-Tony Weber: LEO Australia. “I was in the founding management group(Accountant/finance director) of the Australian subsidiary in the early 1960’s under themanagement of Peter Gyngell.I had 25 years service with the Leo/ICL group of Companies, which then lead to another30 years in the industry including service in Hong Kong then Boston USA. I spent the […]
Geoff Weston:-Geoff Weston, I read your piece in U3A Matters with great interest as I believe that Iwas involved with the first use of computing in the civil engineering industry. I workedfor John Laing Ltd. (now Laing O’Rourke) under John Mason who was ProjectSurveyor. In ’58/’59 I was a very junior surveyor on the London to […]
Fred Whittaker:-Fred Whittaker I was a low person in the scheme of things at Minerva Road 1966-68. Ihad a sort of admin role to perform which meant strolling around the various engineeringoffices weekly and asking questions about timeliness of process. This was logged andforwarded to a higher office in Kidsgrove. I guess it helped the chief […]
Pat Whitaker:-Pat Whitaker Joined Cerebos Foods Limited – a LEO III customer – in 1964 – aftergraduating with an honours degree in mathematics. Pat had taken the LEO aptitude testbefore the job offer and taken the LEO programming course at Hartree House. Patworked on the Cerebos sales invoicing suite using Intercode. In 1967 Cerebos replacedits LEO […]
Michael Wilson:-Michael Wilson Currently lives in Canada. I joined Leo in 1961 at Minerva Road. I hadjust graduated from Teachers College and in those days a teacher was at the bottom of anysalary scale. So I applied for and was hired as an Instructor for the LEO III FieldEngineering Training School. Soon I was Manager of […]
John Winterbottom: DOB: 1928-Reminiscences in 2 parts. Part 1 Life with LEO, part 2 pre and post LEO careerJoined LEO: 1960Role in LEO: Design Engineer working with John PinkertonAbstract: John had a long career as a design engineer in the electronics industry,starting as electrician in the RAF after leaving School having specialised in Science andMaths. Followed up with […]
Norman Witkin:-Norman Witkin, Memoir of working with LEO in South AfricaNorman had programmed an ICT HEC computer in South Africa, but seeking widerexperience applied for a programming job with LEO Computers in London. Passing theaptitude test he joined the LEO team in Hartree House in 1959 aged just 19, workingunder John Aris. When LEO reached an […]
Greg Wojtan:-Greg Wojtan MY DAYS WITH LEOAt the beginning of October 1963, aged 25, I went to the Milk Marketing Board to do an aptitude testfor a job as a LEO computer programmer, thinking that it might be more interesting than sellingbrushes for Kleen-E-Ze, which had been my job since leaving Edinburgh University that year withouta […]
Penny Woodward,:-Penny Woodward, Operator Coventry City LEO !!!/28. I experienced the Leo 111computer whilst employed by Coventry City Council between 1970-1973. I was acomputer operator working three shifts, four persons to a shift, to keep council’s financesrunning smoothly. Although initially engaged as a trainee computer programmer, part ofthe training and experience was to work in operations, […]
Marie Hicks Twitter Message: - In 1964 the inimitable Dame Stephanie ran this advert in The Times, seeking programmers for her startup. “Ant-feminists need not apply”-plus opportunities for women who’d retired
Penny Woodward,: - Penny Woodward, Operator Coventry City LEO !!!/28. I experienced the Leo 111computer whilst employed by Coventry City Council between 1970-1973. I was acomputer operator working three shifts, four persons to a shift, to keep council’s financesrunning smoothly. Although initially engaged as a trainee computer programmer, part ofthe training and experience was to work in operations, […]