Records of the Computing Laboratory, 1951-1987

Sub-Series

The records document the first twenty five years (1957-82) of the Computing Laboratory. They were assembled by or under the direction of Leslie Fox during his Directorship and removed by him from the Laboratory when he retired in 1982. He intended to use them in writing a history of the Laboratory but he did not, in the event, do this and he transferred them to the University Archives in April 1992. He died on 1 August 1992.

The records concern the Laboratory, academic and industrial contacts and Fox's work as its Director. They relate to the establishment of the laboratory in 1957, computing machines, courses, Summer Schools, research grants, finance and the development of the Sub Faculty of Computation. The external relations of the Computing Laboratory, both academic and industrial, are documented; there are records of mathematical conferences, congresses and symposia attended by Fox, details of contacts with industry, users of Laboratory computers, and other universities and mathematical committees.

Dates

Creation: 1951-1987

Extent

78 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Shelfmark

UA CL

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS. University Archives CL 1-78

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

The Oxford University Computing Laboratory (OUCL) was established by Statute of the University in 1957, under the general supervision of the Computing Laboratory Committee. Its Director for the next twenty five years was Leslie Fox.

Between 1957 and 1982 the OUCL had a significant role in the development of Numerical Analysis in the United Kingdom. In Oxford it was instrumental in the creation of the Oxford University Computing Service and, within the Laboratory, the Programming Research Group. By 1957, however, the most important of the early computing laboratories in the United Kingdom had been established; at government laboratories, notably the National Physical Laboratory in Middlesex, and the university laboratories at Manchester and Cambridge.

From 1952 CA Coulson, Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, supported by Sir Douglas Veale and Dorothy Hodgkin, made initial applications for funding for a Computing Scheme based in Oxford. In 1956 the University Grants Committee (UGC) recommended the provision of electronic digital computers at six universities, including Oxford, and by agreeing to fund a Mercury computer it enabled the foundation of the OUCL.

Fox was appointed as Oxford's first Professor of Numerical Analysis in 1963 and in its early years the emphasis of the Computing Laboratory was on Numerical Analysis and providing a computing service. In 1966, however, the Programming Research Group (PRG) led by Christopher Strachey was also founded within the Computing Laboratory.

In 1969 new Statutes divided the Laboratory into a Computing Service generally supervised by a Computing Service Committee; and an academic section supervised by the Faculty Board of Mathematics assisted by a Sub Faculty of Computation. A further decree in 1978 detached the Computing Service from the Computing Laboratory.

The OUCL was based at 9 South Parks Road until 1964 when it moved to 19 Parks Road, the Old Engineering Building; from 1966 the Programming Research Group was at 45 Banbury Road; the now independent Computing Service was established at 15-19 Banbury Road and is now (1996) at 13 Banbury Road. In 1984 the Computing Laboratory, including the Numerical Analysis Group and the Programme Research Group, moved into 8-11 Keble Road. In 1993 the Laboratory moved again, into purpose-built accommodation in the Wolfson Building, Parks Road.

The Computing Laboratory comprises, in 1996, of two distinct groupings: the Numerical Analysis Group (NAGp) and the larger Programming Research Group (PRG).

For two decades the number of academic staff was quite small. In 1957 Fox was joined by JS Rollett, followed, in 1958, by DM Mayers, and then DC Handscomb and CE Phelps; they were accompanied by administrative staff and computors. By 1980 there were only eight established academic staff. In contrast, by 1995 there were around thirty and the Laboratory had developed into a medium-sized University department.

From 1957 the Computing Laboratory offered supervision for research degrees to a small number of students. The first DPhil was awarded in 1960 and by 1970 12 students had received a DPhil; by Fox's retirement in 1983 a total of 70 students had been awarded the DPhil in Numerical Analysis, and 43 additional students had received the MSc or equivalent.

Since 1983 there have been important developments of undergraduate and graduate courses. The BA in Mathematics and Computation, in 1985, was the first undergraduate course at Oxford to be devoted substantially to computing science; and in 1994 the first intake was enrolled for the new Honour School of Computation.

In 1987 the MEng in Engineering and Computing Science was introduced. Other courses were developed including, from 1996, the MSc in Mathematics and the Foundations of Computer Science; the Postgraduate Diploma and MSc in Software Engineering; and external and industrial courses.

Computing Machines

Before the OUCL was established in 1957 it was necessary to hire the use of computers from outside the University. No computing laboratory or computing service existed either separately or attached to a faculty.

The early use of computers in Oxford is unclear: from 1951, the Laboratory of Chemical Crystallography hired Hollerith Tabulating Machines for use by Dorothy Hodgkin; these were subsequently used by the Institute of Statistics and the OUCL.

The main computers used by the Computing Laboratory between 1957 and 1982 were:

1959-1965 Mercury
1965-1971 English Electric KDF 9
1971-1981 ICL 1901A
1977-1981/2 ICL 2980

Directors:

1957-1982 L Fox (Balliol)
1982-1985 CAR Hoare (Wolfson)
1986- KW Morton (Balliol)

Arrangement

The records include Fox's own extensive correspondence relating to the Laboratory, reviews and assorted academic papers. The files were created in series with alphabetical codes (e.g. F for finance, M for machines). They are listed in their original order although the codes have not been retained.

Summary of arrangement:

The origins of the Computing Laboratory, 1952-1956
Computing machines and the Computing Service Committees, 1951-1982
Sub-Faculties and Faculty Boards, 1957-1982
Annual reports and University Calendar entries, 1960-1967
Lectures, seminars and books, 1957-1967
Courses and Summer Schools at Oxford, 1958-1970
Research awards, fellowships and grants, 1962-1964
Finance, 1957-1982
Leslie Fox's academic papers, 1956-1982
Contacts with other universities and Oxford departments, 1957-1972
Contacts with Technical Colleges and Research Establishments, 1956-1982
Visits, conferences, congresses and symposia, 1962-1983
Bulletins, newsletters, conferences, 1957-1983
Committees and inter-varsity and industrial bodies, 1957-1985
Commercial users of computing machines, 1957-1971
Expenses on books, premises and office equipment, 1957-1982
Staff, 1957-1978
Applications for postgraduate study and employment, 1953-1967
Visitors, demonstrations and publicity, 1958-1980

Related Materials

Archive of Charles Alfred Coulson (MSS. Coulson 1-175).

Archive of Christopher Strachey (MS. Eng. misc. b. 248-302).

Oxford Women in Computing: An Oral History Project (MSS. 15797 digital 1-12)

History of Computing Collection (formerly the National Archive for the History of Computing), John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester.

Bibliography

Oxford University Computing Laboratory unpublished booklet, Leslie Fox 1918-1992, including addresses by his brother, Roy Fox and Professor Bill Morton, proceedings of a Symposium in Honour of Leslie Fox, 1993, his own Curriculum Vitae and bibliography. c1993
Leslie Fox's reference library in 70-80 boxes, in the Oxford University Computing Laboratory Library: lecture notes, offprints, articles, correspondence.
DC Handscomb, Oxford University Computing Laboratory, a prospectus, 1995.
M Croarken, Early Scientific Computing in Britain, Oxford University Press, 1990.
SH Lavington, Early British Computers: The Story of Vintage Computers and the People Who Built Them, Manchester University Press, 1980
G Tweedale, 'The National Archive for the History of Computing', Journal of the Society of Archivists (1989) 10, 1, 1-8