Evidence suggests she was fully mobile by the age of 18 when she attempted to elope with a male tutor. Little did she know that 76 years later, the Wright Brothers would take their first flight in a similar construction.Īt 16, Ada regained the use of her legs, although she relied on crutches for some time. Ada also envisioned a winged flying machine containing a steam engine for power. She even went as far as to consider suitable materials and wrote about her experiments in a book called Flyology. Using both her imagination and logic, Ada studied the anatomy of birds, analysing the right proportions between wings and body. Lady Byron feared her daughter becoming an “insane” poet like her ex-husband.ĭuring one of her long bouts of illness, Ada dreamed of flying. Although usually reserved for male students, Ada’s mother insisted she receive lessons in maths and science. In the year that followed, Ada spent her time in bed but kept herself amused by reading about and practising mathematics. At 14, she contracted measles, which paralysed her legs.
In a letter to her mother, Lady Byron wrote, “I talk to it for your satisfaction, not my own, and shall be very glad when you have it under your own.”Īda was a sickly child, often confined to her bed due to migraine-like headaches. When in public, Lady Byron acted like the perfect mother, but in private, she did not even mention Ada’s name. Although Ada lived with her mother, she did not have a loving relationship and spent the majority of her childhood in the care of her grandmother, Lady Judith Milbanke. She refused to let Byron see his child, not that he protested, and Ada never knew her father. Happy to escape from her immoral husband, Lady Anne Isabella Noel Byron (1792-1860), moved to her parents home in Leicestershire with her 5-week old daughter. Just over a month after the birth, Lord Byron commanded his wife to leave and set about organising a legal separation. He named his daughter after his sister Augusta Leigh (1783-1851), but insisted on calling her by her middle name Ada. Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), the renowned poet and politician, expected a “glorious boy” and did not hide his disappointment when Lady Byron gave birth to a girl. The Honorable Augusta Ada Byron was born on 10th December 1815 in London to Lord and Lady Byron. Whilst their achievements are significant, it is also important to learn about their lives and the obstacles they overcame as women to fulfil their ambitions. The goal of this event is to “raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths,” particularly those written out of history. In 2009, the non-profit organisation The Ada Initiative marked the second Tuesday of October as the annual Ada Lovelace Day. Generally, but incorrectly, known as Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer is gradually earning recognition in the 21st century. Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, circa 1840,
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