Dear SIGCIS The death was announced last week <https://www.facebook.com/TNMOC/videos/it-is-with-great-sadness-that-the-national-museum-of-computing-tnmoc-announces-t/1171186234917349/> of Professor Simon Lavington, one of the earliest and most prolific of British computer historians. Originally trained as an electrical engineer, Simon Lavington was a graduate student in the University of Manchester's emerging Department of Computer Science under Tom Kilburn in the 1960s. His historical research, mostly in the internal machine-history tradition, developed alongside an academic career in computer science and systems design at Manchester and the University of Essex, and expanded after his official retirement in 2002. His first book, the short illustrated study /A History of Manchester Computers/ (1975; 2nd ed., 1998), was followed by /Early British Computers /(1980), a technical survey of the hardware industry's development; /The Pegasus Story/ (2000), a machine history; and two detailed studies of British manufacturers, /Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age /(2011) and /Early Computing in Britain: Ferranti Ltd and Government Funding/ (2019). He also edited the multi-authored work /Alan Turing and his Contemporaries/ (2012, with Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly and Roger Johnson). His published articles include a description of the high-speed text analysis machine Oedipus, developed secretly for the intelligence service GCHQ in the 1950s and loosely descended from the Bletchley Park Colossus project (/Annals/, 2006: doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34 <https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34>) and a short biography of Dina Vaughan/St Johnston, whose company Vaughan Programming Services was a defining influence on the concept of the independent software house (/Computer Journal/, 2009: doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019 <https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019>). He was also the digital archivist for the Computer Conservation Society, where he co-ordinated the Our Computer Heritage <https://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/> project. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the National Museum of Computing, and he remained active in research and commemorative activities to the end of his life. His papers <https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/fcb6b66a-adc2-38f1-a409-0bc692de76f0?component=2f1282d0-2e2a-38ea-a320-00085dfe9aa4> are held at the University of Manchester Library. Best wishes James
Such sad news. For those of us starting to explore "computer history" as it was known in the 1970s and 1980s, he was one of few doing so. He was, therefore, a mentor by example. My readings on computing's history involved him, Martin Campbell-Kelly (so Martin not trying to age you as *an ancient*), and Bill aspray, among a half dozen folks. The earliest historians started out in some other field, eg I in sales, Martin was in computing, Bill although a PhD in history focused on mathematics which helped enormously when writing his biography of Von Neumann. Simon wrote well and clearly, at least who knew Zero when I came into the IT industry in 1974 (My history PhD was in modern European political history). So, I will always be grateful for Simon providing a glide path into this strange new history. Jim Cortada On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM James Sumner via Members < members@lists.sigcis.org> wrote:
Dear SIGCIS
The death was announced last week <https://www.facebook.com/TNMOC/videos/it-is-with-great-sadness-that-the-national-museum-of-computing-tnmoc-announces-t/1171186234917349/> of Professor Simon Lavington, one of the earliest and most prolific of British computer historians.
Originally trained as an electrical engineer, Simon Lavington was a graduate student in the University of Manchester's emerging Department of Computer Science under Tom Kilburn in the 1960s. His historical research, mostly in the internal machine-history tradition, developed alongside an academic career in computer science and systems design at Manchester and the University of Essex, and expanded after his official retirement in 2002.
His first book, the short illustrated study *A History of Manchester Computers* (1975; 2nd ed., 1998), was followed by *Early British Computers *(1980), a technical survey of the hardware industry's development; *The Pegasus Story* (2000), a machine history; and two detailed studies of British manufacturers, *Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age *(2011) and *Early Computing in Britain: Ferranti Ltd and Government Funding* (2019). He also edited the multi-authored work *Alan Turing and his Contemporaries* (2012, with Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly and Roger Johnson).
His published articles include a description of the high-speed text analysis machine Oedipus, developed secretly for the intelligence service GCHQ in the 1950s and loosely descended from the Bletchley Park Colossus project (*Annals*, 2006: doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34) and a short biography of Dina Vaughan/St Johnston, whose company Vaughan Programming Services was a defining influence on the concept of the independent software house (*Computer Journal*, 2009: doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019).
He was also the digital archivist for the Computer Conservation Society, where he co-ordinated the Our Computer Heritage <https://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/> project. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the National Museum of Computing, and he remained active in research and commemorative activities to the end of his life. His papers <https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/fcb6b66a-adc2-38f1-a409-0bc692de76f0?component=2f1282d0-2e2a-38ea-a320-00085dfe9aa4> are held at the University of Manchester Library.
Best wishes James _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- James W. Cortada Senior Research Fellow Charles Babbage Institute University of Minnesota jcortada@umn.edu 608-274-6382
I just want to mention that Simon was my Ph.D. supervisor in Manchester, and I was his first Ph.D. student. That was before either of us had an interest in the history of computing, but it was a great pleasure to me that we stayed in touch over the years, and I am very saddened that he has left us. Until quite recently, he was working on a planned book about the earliest female British programmers (one of whom continued her career here in New Zealand). Regards/Ngā mihi Brian Carpenter On 25-Oct-25 06:19, James Sumner via Members wrote:
Dear SIGCIS
The death was announced last week <https://www.facebook.com/TNMOC/videos/it-is-with-great-sadness-that-the-national-museum-of-computing-tnmoc-announces-t/1171186234917349/> of Professor Simon Lavington, one of the earliest and most prolific of British computer historians.
Originally trained as an electrical engineer, Simon Lavington was a graduate student in the University of Manchester's emerging Department of Computer Science under Tom Kilburn in the 1960s. His historical research, mostly in the internal machine-history tradition, developed alongside an academic career in computer science and systems design at Manchester and the University of Essex, and expanded after his official retirement in 2002.
His first book, the short illustrated study /A History of Manchester Computers/ (1975; 2nd ed., 1998), was followed by /Early British Computers /(1980), a technical survey of the hardware industry's development; /The Pegasus Story/ (2000), a machine history; and two detailed studies of British manufacturers, /Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age /(2011) and /Early Computing in Britain: Ferranti Ltd and Government Funding/ (2019). He also edited the multi-authored work /Alan Turing and his Contemporaries/ (2012, with Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly and Roger Johnson).
His published articles include a description of the high-speed text analysis machine Oedipus, developed secretly for the intelligence service GCHQ in the 1950s and loosely descended from the Bletchley Park Colossus project (/Annals/, 2006: doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34 <https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34>) and a short biography of Dina Vaughan/St Johnston, whose company Vaughan Programming Services was a defining influence on the concept of the independent software house (/Computer Journal/, 2009: doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019 <https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019>).
He was also the digital archivist for the Computer Conservation Society, where he co-ordinated the Our Computer Heritage <https://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/> project. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the National Museum of Computing, and he remained active in research and commemorative activities to the end of his life. His papers <https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/fcb6b66a-adc2-38f1-a409-0bc692de76f0?component=2f1282d0-2e2a-38ea-a320-00085dfe9aa4> are held at the University of Manchester Library.
Best wishes James
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Dear SIGCIS, I am preparing a short In Memoriam of Simon Lavington to be published in the forthcoming issue of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. If you have a nice short anecdote, a nice picture, or something you would like to propose to remember Simon, please feel free to send it to me *by January 6th 2026*. Best wishes, Elisabetta Il giorno ven 24 ott 2025 alle ore 21:54 Brian E Carpenter via Members < members@lists.sigcis.org> ha scritto:
I just want to mention that Simon was my Ph.D. supervisor in Manchester, and I was his first Ph.D. student. That was before either of us had an interest in the history of computing, but it was a great pleasure to me that we stayed in touch over the years, and I am very saddened that he has left us. Until quite recently, he was working on a planned book about the earliest female British programmers (one of whom continued her career here in New Zealand).
Regards/Ngā mihi Brian Carpenter
Dear SIGCIS
The death was announced last week < https://www.facebook.com/TNMOC/videos/it-is-with-great-sadness-that-the-national-museum-of-computing-tnmoc-announces-t/1171186234917349/> of Professor Simon Lavington, one of the earliest and most prolific of British computer historians.
Originally trained as an electrical engineer, Simon Lavington was a graduate student in the University of Manchester's emerging Department of Computer Science under Tom Kilburn in the 1960s. His historical research, mostly in the internal machine-history tradition, developed alongside an academic career in computer science and systems design at Manchester and
On 25-Oct-25 06:19, James Sumner via Members wrote: the University of Essex, and expanded after his official retirement in 2002.
His first book, the short illustrated study /A History of Manchester
Computers/ (1975; 2nd ed., 1998), was followed by /Early British Computers /(1980), a technical survey of the hardware industry's development; /The Pegasus Story/ (2000), a machine history; and two detailed studies of British manufacturers, /Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age /(2011) and /Early Computing in Britain: Ferranti Ltd and Government Funding/ (2019). He also edited the multi-authored work /Alan Turing and his Contemporaries/ (2012, with Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly and Roger Johnson).
His published articles include a description of the high-speed text
analysis machine Oedipus, developed secretly for the intelligence service GCHQ in the 1950s and loosely descended from the Bletchley Park Colossus project (/Annals/, 2006: doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34 < https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2006.34>) and a short biography of Dina Vaughan/St Johnston, whose company Vaughan Programming Services was a defining influence on the concept of the independent software house (/Computer Journal/, 2009: doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019 < https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxn019>).
He was also the digital archivist for the Computer Conservation Society,
where he co-ordinated the Our Computer Heritage < https://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/> project. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the National Museum of Computing, and he remained active in research and commemorative activities to the end of his life. His papers < https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/fcb6b66a-adc2-38f1-a409-0bc692de76f0?component=2f1282d0-2e2a-38ea-a320-00085dfe9aa4> are held at the University of Manchester Library.
Best wishes James
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion
list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
participants (4)
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Brian E Carpenter -
Elisabetta Mori -
James Cortada -
James Sumner