Mary Coombs was the first woman to work at the Leo Computer

Mary Coombs was the first woman to work at the Leo Computer

Mary Coombs (brought into the world 4 February 1929) was the main lady to deal with the LEO Computer.1 Her father, William Blood, believed in women's education and her sister worked in microbiology and bacteriology. Unlike her sister, and unlike others in computing, she had no experience in mathematics or science. The National Museum of Computing documents her contribution. He graduated with a French degree from Queen Mary University in London. He later moved to surrey, when his father became a medical officer of the J. Lyons and Co. catering company. He was clear that women should have their own careers and interests.

Education

In her early years, Coombs attended Putney High School and St Paul's Girls' School. She went on to earn a BA degree with honors in French, with history from Queen Mary University of London.

I work at J. Lyons and Co.

After earning his degree, Coombs began working on J. Lyons and Co. in 1951 temporarily clerical worker—a job he reluctantly accepted while looking for a better alternative. Coombs' math skills soon allowed him to move from the ice cream sales department to the bureau de estadísticas, where he heard that the division working at LEO computers had been looking to hire additional programmers.

The selection process, devised by Raymond Thompson, was conducted as a "computer appreciation course", which consisted of a grueling week of daytime conferences and afternoon writings designed to assess the suitability of candidates for the work on the computer.

Coombs' performance in the computer's appreciation course was stellar, and as a result, she was one of two candidates who were offered a position in the computer division, along with Frank Land. According to Coombs, she was one of the few women who took the appraisal course on the computer, and was the only one, who was offered a job as a result.

Once Coombs officially began working with LEO in 1952, John Grover, one of LEO's first programmers, taught him to program. At first, she was the main lady in the group and worked nearby Leo Fantl, John Grover and Derrick Hemy, utilizing LEO to naturally compute representative finance at J. Lyons and Co. The team then went on to make the payroll for Ford Motor Company using LEO.9 Coombs is recognized as the first woman to work on a commercial computer.

Coombs continued to work for J. Lyons and Co while LEO II and LEO III were being built. She spent most of her time as a supervisor, looking for logical and syntactic errors in the programs that other people had written. He developed programs for the internal use of the company and for external clients as another part of the commercial computer service offered by the company.11 He was also in charge of rewriting LEO II programs to work with LEO III, as LEO III used a different programming language.

J. Lyons and Co. provided a good working environment for Coombs. The company had several sports clubs in which Coombs was involved and even an Amateur Drama Society. However, the company paid her very little, which was a difficulty for her as she financially supported her mother.

after J. Lyons and Co.
Coombs was transferred to English Electric Leo Computers, a joint venture created by the merger of J. Lyons and Co. and English Electric. It was later transferred to International Computers Limited (ICL) when they purchased English Leo Computers. There, in 1964, due to family commitments, he went from full-time to part-time work. He continued to work in the computer business, mainly editing manuals. She briefly taught a computer programming course at Princess Marina Center in Seer Green for disabled residents.

In 1969, when she realized she would not be able to return to full-time work, Coombs left the LEO team and worked briefly for Freelance Programmers, a company started by Dame Stephanie Shirley. After three years of not working, she became a teacher elementary school at a private school. After leaving teaching, he has taught piano, and led the church choir, as well as being up to date with other hobbies.

LEO Computers
Coombs was the first woman to work in the LEO computer business. She and her husband were co-workers there. They finally had a son together. The girl was disabled, which made Mary think she should either quit her job or work part-time. Her daughter died at the age of 6.