Charles Babbage KH FRS (1791 - 1871)

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Education 1.3 Career 1.4 Marriage and children 1.5 Death 2 Legacy 3 Research Notes 4 Sources

Biography

Considered by some to be a "father of the computer", Charles Babbage was an English polymath. His talents spanned mathematics, philosophy, invention and mechanical engineering.

Early life

Charles was born on 26 December 1791, most likely born at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London.^[1] He was the son of Benjamin Babbage and Elizabeth (Betsy) Plumleigh Teape and was baptised on 6 January 1792 at St Mary in Newington, Southwark in the county of Surrey.^[2] Charles was one of four children born to Benjamin (a banker) and Betsy.

Education

After being educated by private tutors and at Holmwood Academy in Enfield, Middlesex,^[3] Charles developed a lifelong love of mathematics. He achieved a level in Classics sufficient for him to study at Cambridge University^[1] and in 1810 went up to Trinity College,^[4] where:

"...he found himself far in advance of his tutors in mathematics. Babbage co-founded the Analytical Society for promoting continental mathematics and reforming the mathematics of Newton then taught at the university." ^[5]

After switching to Peterhouse, Babbage was the top mathematician at the college but did not complete his degree with honours, instead receiving an honorary bachelors degree in 1814^[6] and a masters degree in 1817.^[3]

Career

Babbage was employed by the Royal Institution to lecture on calculus,^[7] "the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations." ^[8] He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1816,^[3][9] established the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820, and was a founder fellow of the Statistical Society.^[3] Babbage served as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge from 1828 to 1839.^[7]

In the 1820s Babbage began work on his Difference Engine, a machine designed to perform mathematical calculations. He then developed the Analytical Engine, which earned him the title "father of the computer."

"It was intended to be able to perform any arithmetical calculation using punched cards that would deliver the instructions, as well as a memory unit to store numbers and many other fundamental components of today's computers." ^[7]

Babbage was unable to finish constructing the Analytical Engine due to disagreements with his engineer and a lack of money after government funding was withdrawn.^[10] It was not until 2002 that the first Babbage Engine was completed. Following its inventor's original drawings, Difference Engine No. 2 weighs five tons and is 11 feet (3.3 metres) long.^[11]

For her work with Babbage in which she developed an algorithm which would enable the Analytical Engine to calculate a series of Bernoulli numbers, Ada Lovelace is known as the "first computer programmer." She also translated and wrote documentation for Babbage's engine.^[1]

Marriage and children

Charles married Georgiana Whitmore in East Teignmouth, Devon, on 25 July 1814.^[12] The couple had eight children, but only four – Benjamin, Georgiana, Dugald and Henry – survived childhood:

1. Benjamin Herschel Babbage (1815-1878)
2. Charles Whitmore Babbage (1817-1827)
3. Georgiana Whitmore Babbage (1818-1834)
4. Edward Stewart Babbage (1819-1821)
5. Francis Moore Babbage (1821-??)
6. Dugald Bromhead Babbage (1823-1901)
7. (Maj-Gen) Henry Prevost Babbage (1824–1918)
8. Alexander Forbes Babbage (1827–1827)

The family lived at Georgiana's family seat, Dudmaston Hall, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Charles engineered the house's central heating system.^[13] Georgiana died in Worcester, Worcestershire, on 1 September 1827^[14] – the same year as their second son (also named Charles), their newborn son Alexander, and Charles's father all passed away.^[1]

At the time of the 1841 census, Charles lived at 1 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London.^[15] He remained at the same address in 1851,^[16] 1861^[17] and 1871, when he lived with his son Henry.^[18]

Death

Charles died on 18 October 1871^[19] at the age of 79,^[20] at his home on Dorset Street. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery on 24 October.^[21][22] He left "effects under £40,000."^[19]

Half of Babbage's brain is kept in the Hunterian Museum at London's Royal College of Surgeons; the other half is at the Science Museum.^[23]

Legacy

The former video game/computer retail chain "Babbage's" was named after him. That chain eventually became known as GameStop. ^[24]

Research Notes

Charles Babbage birth date and location:
The date and location of Charles' birth, has been contested. The entry in Newington, All Saints parish Register for Charles' birth and baptism is definitive. It records the birth as 26 December 1791, and the baptism 6 January 1792. The Times on 30 Oct 1871 (a week after Charles Babbage's obituary was published^[25]) records that Rev. T. H. Hollier, Rector of Preston, Charles Babbage's nephew, wrote to the editor as follows^[26]:

it was on the 26th December, 1791, that Mr. Charles Babbage was born. His father, Mr. Benjamin Babbage, was a London banker, one of the firm of Praed, Mackworth, and Babbage; his mother was Betsy Plumley Babbage (née Teape.) Both of these were natives of Totnes, and connected with well-known Devonshire families, Charles Babbage had two brothers and one sister. The brothers died in infancy. The sister, now Mrs. Hollier, is still living...

also cited in MacTutor "Charles Babbage", October 1998^[27]. The Athenæn also published an obituary^[28]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Wikipedia contributors, “Charles Babbage,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (accessed March 26, 2020).
2. ↑ Baptisms at St Mary Newington, Southwark. 6 Jan 1792. Charles, s. of Benjamin & Betty Plumleigh Babbage.
   Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Image
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Babbage; Charles (1791 - 1871); Mathematician. Fellow details. The Royal Society. Accessed 28 Mar 2020
4. ↑ M. V. Wilkes 2002. Charles Babbage and his world. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.56353–365 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2002.0188
5. ↑ Who Was Charles Babbage?. Charles Babbage Institute. University of Minnesota. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
6. ↑ Faces of HPC: Charles Babbage. Diversity in HPC. EPCC. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Charles Babbage (1791 - 1871). BBC – History. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
8. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Calculus," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Calculus&oldid=945062084 (accessed March 26, 2020).
9. ↑ H. G. Lyons 1997. Charles Babbage and the Ophthalmoscope. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 3146–148 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.1940.0019
10. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Analytical Engine," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analytical_Engine&oldid=938941215 (accessed March 26, 2020).
11. ↑ The Babbage Engine. Computer History Museum. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
12. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2HS-H4T : 13 March 2020), Charles Babbage, 1814.
13. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Dudmaston Hall," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudmaston_Hall#Charles_Babbage&oldid=916564663 (accessed March 28, 2020
14. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JHR3-H3J : 15 March 2020), Georgiana Babbage, 1827.
15. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQJW-BBR : 22 May 2019), Chs Babbage, St Marylebone, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
16. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGN9-2D9 : 9 November 2019), Charles Babbage, Saint Marylebone, Middlesex, England; citing Saint Marylebone, Middlesex, England, p. 19, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
17. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7GN-NRC : 24 October 2019), Charles Babbage, St Marylebone, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
18. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRJM-YD1 : 29 September 2019), Charles Babbage, 1871.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} 1871. BABBAGE Charles Esq. Effects under £40,000. Double Probate passed at the Principal Registry December 1872. 13 November. The Will of Charles Babbage late of 1 Dorset-street Portman-square in the County of Middlesex Esquire Master of Arts and Fellow of the Royal Society who died 18 October 1871 at 1 Dorset-street was proved at the Principal Registry by Henry Prevost Babbage of Park-road Bromley in the County of Kent Lieutenant-Colonel in Her Majesty’s Army the Son and the Right Honourable Sir Edward Ryan of 5 Addison-road Kensington in the County of Middlesex Knight two of the Executors.
    Find a will. probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
20. ↑ GRO civil registration death index entry. Charles Babbage. Vol 1a p 383. Dec quarter 1871. Registration district Marylebone. Age 79. FreeBMD.org.uk
21. ↑ All Souls, Kensal Green. Burial of Charles Babbage of 1 Dorset Street, St Marylebone. 24 Oct 1871. Age 81.
    Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Board of Guardian Records, 1834-1906 and Church Image
22. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 26 March 2020), memorial page for Charles Babbage (26 Dec 1791–18 Oct 1871), Find a Grave Memorial no. 12433, citing Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
23. ↑ A Description of the Brain of Mr. Charles Babbage (1909). The Public Domain Review. Accessed 26 Mar 2020
24. ↑ Fisher, Dan (6 May 1990). "No. 87 Babbage's Feels Growing Pains". Dallas Times Herald.
25. ↑ The Times Digital Archive database & images. Gale.com The Times Mon 23 Oct. 1871, issue 27201, p. 12. col. 2
    citing "Late Mr. Charles Babbage, F.R.S." image NLA Gale document no. GALE|CS201633111
    (accessed February 4, 2022)
26. ↑ The Times Digital Archive database & images. Gale.com The Times Mon 30 Oct. 1871, p. 10. col. 5
    citing Editorial note "The Late Mr. Babbage" image NLA Gale document no. GALE|CS169913694
    (accessed February 4, 2022)
27. ↑ https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Babbage/ School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland (accessed 4 Feb 2022)
28. ↑ The Athenæn 28 Oct 1791, issue 2296 p. 564
    image in Hathi Trust accessed 5 Feb 2022)

See also:

• The Britannica Guide to The 100 Most Influential Scientists (2007), pp. 165-159.
• Wikipedia: Charles Babbage
• Wikidata: Item Q46633, en:Wikipedia 👁 help.gif
  
• Science Museum Group: Charles Babbage
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mldLwKvT-M
• http://www.charlesbabbage.net/
• http://www.ithistory.org/honor-roll/mr-charles-babbage
• 'Michael Faraday - a Sandemanian and Scientist' by Geoffrey Cantor

Is Charles your ancestor? Please don't go away!

Login (free, instant) to comment or collaborate with our community of genealogists to make Charles Babbage KH FRS's profile the best it can be. At least contact the profile manager. Thank you!