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Augusta Ada <I>Byron</I> King

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Augusta Ada Byron King Famous memorial

Birth
London, City of London, Greater London, England
Death
27 Nov 1852 (aged 36)
Marylebone, City of Westminster, Greater London, England
Burial
Hucknall, Ashfield District, Nottinghamshire, England Add to Map
Memorial ID
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English Aristocracy. Mathematician. Born Augusta Ada Byron in London to the famed poet, George Gordon Byron and his wife, Anna Isabella Millbanke. Within two months of her birth, her mother separated from Lord Byron and was awarded sole custody of their daughter, Byron never saw her again. Know as Ada, she was tutored in the sciences and mathematics by such luminaries as William Frend, William King, Mary Somerville, and Augustus De Morgan. She married at nineteen to William Lord King who became Earl of Lovelace, and they had three children together. She began a long working friendship with Charles Babbage in 1833 and occupied themselves with the design and construction of the first Difference Engine, and later of the Analytical Engine - both precursors of the modern computer. Her suggestion of writing a plan for how the engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers is now regarded as the first computer program. Additionally, they tested mathematical theories of probability in horse racing, gambling on their theories to the point of debt and ruin even as the government lost faith in the Difference Engine project and had withdrawn all financial support. Ill health plagued the rest of her life, culminating in suspected uterine cancer which was treated with bloodletting which, it is speculated, led to her early death at 36. At her request she was buried beside her father in Hucknall Torkard church in Nottinghamshire. The computer language ADA, created by the United States Defense Department, was named after her. Her image can also be seen on the Microsoft product authenticity hologram stickers. The British Computer Society annually awards a medal in her name.
English Aristocracy. Mathematician. Born Augusta Ada Byron in London to the famed poet, George Gordon Byron and his wife, Anna Isabella Millbanke. Within two months of her birth, her mother separated from Lord Byron and was awarded sole custody of their daughter, Byron never saw her again. Know as Ada, she was tutored in the sciences and mathematics by such luminaries as William Frend, William King, Mary Somerville, and Augustus De Morgan. She married at nineteen to William Lord King who became Earl of Lovelace, and they had three children together. She began a long working friendship with Charles Babbage in 1833 and occupied themselves with the design and construction of the first Difference Engine, and later of the Analytical Engine - both precursors of the modern computer. Her suggestion of writing a plan for how the engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers is now regarded as the first computer program. Additionally, they tested mathematical theories of probability in horse racing, gambling on their theories to the point of debt and ruin even as the government lost faith in the Difference Engine project and had withdrawn all financial support. Ill health plagued the rest of her life, culminating in suspected uterine cancer which was treated with bloodletting which, it is speculated, led to her early death at 36. At her request she was buried beside her father in Hucknall Torkard church in Nottinghamshire. The computer language ADA, created by the United States Defense Department, was named after her. Her image can also be seen on the Microsoft product authenticity hologram stickers. The British Computer Society annually awards a medal in her name.

Bio by: Iola



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Originally Created by: Sue
  • Added: Jan 31, 2002
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6145300/augusta_ada-king: accessed ), memorial page for Augusta Ada Byron King (10 Dec 1815–27 Nov 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6145300, citing St. Mary Magdalene Churchyard, Hucknall, Ashfield District, Nottinghamshire, England; Maintained by Find a Grave.