Ada Lovelace

Intelligent, confident and daring, Ada Lovelace was a tech visionary that was ahead of her time. Not only did she write the first computer program, she foresaw a digital future in which machines could do more than basic maths. She is held up as an inspiration for women in science and her life is often romanticised. But behind her ground-breaking achievements was a complex character, who spent her entire life wrestling with both her mental and physical health before her tragic death at the age of just 36.

Augusta Ada Byron was born in London in 1815. Her mother, Lady Annabella Byron, was a clever, upright and deeply religious woman. Meanwhile, her father was the poet Lord Byron, of “mad, bad and dangerous to know” infamy. Ada was named after Augusta Leigh, Byron’s half-sister with whom he was widely suspected of committing incest.

It is perhaps no surprise that, just a few weeks after her birth, Ada’s parents separated. Lady Byron became exasperated with her husband’s maddening behaviour. Finalised in March 1816, the nasty split caused an embarrassment in society, forcing Lord Byron to escape England and pursue a life abroad. He never returned to English soil and he died eight years later