Ada Lovelace in Hinckley

Bring Ada Lovelace to Hinckley

Our Aim is to have a sculpture of Ada Lovelace to stand outside the Natwest Bank and old Lloyds Bank in the centre circle of Hinckley Town Centre!

Our Objective is to give Hinckley an identity linked with Ada, “The home of Ada Lovelace”, a lady of increasing interest, her childhood home town through a sculpture with presence, considerable artistic merit creating prestige and tourist interest.

A Bit About Ada...

Ada, the only legitimate daughter of Lord Byron the poet, was born on 10th December 1815. Byrons irrational and unpredictable behaviour, caused her Mother, Anne Isabella, to leave him and their London home on 15th January 1816, to live with her Mother Judith, at Kirkby Hall, Kirkby Mallory. Ada was never to see her Father again.

Ada lived at Kirkby Hall until 1822, when her Grandmother died. During that time, she visited Hinckley on many occasions with her. It is recorded, there was an occasion when Ada had been miss-behaving, her Grandmother did not take to Hinckley, aware, she loved Hinckley.

Ada was always tutored privately, and from an early age showed a strong interest in mathematics. In her teens she was tutored by Mary Somerville, an outstanding mathematician and astronomer. An Oxford college is named after her. It was Mary, who took Ada to a soirée held by Charles Babbage, when aged 18.

Babbage held regular soirées at his Dover St home London, inviting people of high social standing to witness him demonstrating his calculating machine. Babbage was the first man to relieve man of mental effort. Prior to his machine, previous inventions had relieved man of physical work. Ada was fascinated by the conception of a calculating machine and stayed long after everyone had departed the room. It was the start a lifelong friendship with Babbage.

The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, gave Babbage huge sums of money to build the difference engine but he failed to do so. Babbage gave a lecture on the Analytical Engine to Italian mathematicians, who later asked for explanatory notes. Babbage asked Ada to write the explanatory notes and in so doing wrote out the first computer programme. Babbage mind was focused on machine design, Lovelace realised the analytical engine could manipulate more than just numbers foreseeing capability of todays computers.