Ada Lovelace
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Ada Lovelace
by William Henry Mote, after Alfred Edward Chalon
stipple engraving, published 1839
12 3/8 in. x 8 7/8 in. (315 mm x 227 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D5124
Sitterback to top
- Augusta (Ada) King (née Byron), Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), Mathematician and computer pioneer. Sitter associated with 8 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Alfred Edward Chalon (1780-1860), Portrait and subject painter. Artist or producer associated with 180 portraits, Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
- William Henry Mote (1803-1871), Line and stipple engraver. Artist or producer associated with 74 portraits.
Related worksback to top
Linked publicationsback to top
- 100 Pioneering Women, p. 55 Read entry
Augusta Ada King (1815-52), Countess of Lovelace, was a computer pioneer, writer and mathematician, dubbed ‘enchantress of numbers’ and ‘prophet of the computer age’ by one biographer. Encouraged by her mother, Lady Byron, Ada fought for her right to an education, teaching herself geometry and training in astronomy and mathematics. Charles Dickens and Michael Faraday were among the Victorian luminaries of her acquaintance, as was the English mathematician, inventor and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. Her notes on her translation of a paper by an Italian mathematician, which explain how Babbage’s analytical engine (the ‘mechanical computer’) might be programmed, have led to her being credited as the first computer programmer. She was certainly integral to the birth of the computer revolution. ADA, the universal computer-programming language developed in the 1980s, is named in tribute to her. The Romantic poet Lord Byron’s only legitimate daughter, it is said there are more pilgrimages to her grave than to that of her father.
- Rab MacGibbon, National Portrait Gallery: The Collection, p. 61
Events of 1839back to top
Current affairs
The Bedchamber crisis strains relations between the government and the monarchy, after Queen Victoria refuses to dismiss her Whig-appointed ladies of the bedchamber at the request of the new, Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Peel resigns and Melbourne returns as Prime Minister.The Grand National is first held at the Aintree race course, won by the horse Lottery, and the first Henley Royal Regatta, the rowing event, is held on the Thames.
Art and science
The French and British scientists Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot separately publicise their experiments with the new form of photography.The prolific journalist Harriet Martineau publishes her three decker novel Deerbrook, the story of middle class country life.
International
The first Opium War with China is sparked after the British government refuses to try six British soldiers accused of killing a Chinese man protecting a temple from looters. Relations were strained as Britain had promoted the drug opium in China to boost trade. Winning the war, Britain secured vital trading rights.African captives aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad revolt, resulting in a highly publicised court case.
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