History of Computing Collection: English Electric Company Limited Collection

Scope and Content

Comprises:

  • D1, Envelope of DEUCE data cards, n.d.;
  • D2, Rugby/Whetstone DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 1, May 1 1959;
  • D3, Rugby/Whetstone DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 2, June 1 1959;
  • D4, Rugby/Whetstone DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 3, July 1 1959;
  • D5, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 4, August 1 1959;
  • D6, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 5, September 1 1959;
  • D7, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 6, October 1 1959;
  • D8, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 7, November 1 1960;
  • D9, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 8, January 19 1960;
  • D10, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 9, February 22 1960;
  • D11, DEUCE Bulletin, Issue No. 10, June 13 1960;
  • D12, DEUCE News, Nos 45, 512, 1960;
  • D13 DEUCE Programme Codes, c 1961: General Interpretive Programme (G.I.p. 7), English Electric Multiple Regression Programme, DEUCE Programme No. NPL128 Curve Fitting, DEUCE Instruction Code, Automatic Instruction Modifier, Filler Instructions for DEUCE;
  • D14, DEUCE Alphacode Manuals;
  • D15, S.J.M. Denison, Decimal to Binary and Binary to Decimal Conversions. Report NS y 62, 27 June 1957;
  • D16, C. Robinson, Report NS u 242, Notes on Binary Decimal and Decimal Binary Conversion (using Brunsviga), 9 September 1957;
  • D17, A. Gilmour, Report NS u 246, Instructions for Using Automatic Instruction Modifier and 64 Column Read and Punch, Report NS u 246, 18 September 1957;
  • D18, R.A. Smith, Report Ns y 77, DEUCE Programme News No.16, 19 November 1957;
  • D19, Miss A. Birchmore, Report NS y 78, Standard Operating Instructions for DEUCE, 21 November 1957;
  • D20, P.J. Landin, Report NS y 80, Preparing and Testing Deuce Programmes, 25 November 1957.
  • D21, Miss A. Birchmore, Report NS y 79, DEUCE Control Panel Manual, 21 November 1957;
  • D22, Miss A. Birchmore, Report NS y 79, DEUCE Control Panel Manual, 21 November 1957;
  • D23, V.E. Price and G.M. Davis, Report NS y 88, Basic DEUCE Programming (2nd Issue), 20 January 1958;
  • D24, S.J.M. Denison, E.N. Hawkins and C. Robinson, Report NS y 87, DEUCE Programme News No.20, January 1958, 29 January 1958;
  • D25, C. Robinson, Report NS u 259, DEUCE Schematic Diagram, 14 February 1958;
  • D26, C. Robinson, Report NS u 258, Useful Constants, 14 February 1958;
  • D27, P.J. Landin, Report NS u 261, Notes on GIP 5, 18 February 1958;
  • D28, R.A. Smith, Report NS y 103, DEUCE Programme News No.26, August 1958: DEUCE Subroutine Library, 28 August 1958;
  • D29, J. Boothroyd, Report NS u 272, DEUCE Programming Examples, 16 September 1958;
  • D30, Miss A. Birchmore, Report NS y 104, A DEUCE Programme to Calculate H.C.F., 16 September 1958;
  • D31, M.J. Kelly & B. Randell, Report W/AT 216, Preliminary Report on EASICODE, 19 October 1958;
  • D32; B.W. Clark, Report W/M(4A).p. 11, General Decimal Punch Subroutine, 31 October 1958;
  • D33, B.W. Clark, Report W/M(4A).p. 12, Alpha-Numeric Punch Out Subroutine, 11 November 1958;
  • D34, E.N. Hawkins, Report NS y 114, Supplement to DEUCE News No.20, DEUCE Alphacode (Mark 2), 4 December 1958;
  • D35, C.G. Broyden, Report W/AT 255, STEVE, 15 December 1958;
  • D36, D.J. Ozanne, Report NS u 286, DEUCE Programmers' Course No.8, 20 January 1959;
  • D37, C.G. Broyden, Second Amendment to W/AT 255, Further Notes on 'STEVE' and 'BEVERLEY, 17 November 1959;
  • D38, R.A. Smith, Report NS y 85, DEUCE Programme News No.18, January 1958. Lists of DEUCE Library Routines, n.d.;
  • D39, Programming notes on STEVE and BEVERLEY, c 1958;
  • D40, DEUCE Programming notes, including DEUCE Programme No.19012: Tabular Interpretive Scheme, pp. 21, n.d.;
  • D41, Miscellaneous DEUCE programming notes;
  • D42; Computer printout, Bristol Mk.II drum filling;
  • D43, Computer programming notes and printout, Atomic Power Division, English Electric Co. Ltd;
  • D44, Computer printout, programming notes, including TIP Mark 2 Order Code, typescript, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, English Electric Co. Ltd.

Administrative / Biographical History

English Electric Company Ltd was formed from the amalgamation of Dick Kerr, Pheonix Dynamo, and Coventry Ordnance Works Ltd. The company manufactured heavy electrical equipment, including water and steam turbines, generating sets, switchgear, transformers, and electrical equipment for electric and diesel-electric locomotives, ships, trams and trolley buses, industrial diesel engines and rolling mills. EEC became involved in the development of digital computers through contact with the Pilot ACE at the UK National Physical Laboratory. The first machine to be marketed was the DEUCE or Digital Electronic Universal Computing Engine. From 1955 this was superseded by DEUCE 2 and in 1957 by DEUCE 2A. Between 1955 and 1964 the company sold around 31 of these machines.

Access Information

The collection is open to any accredited reader.

Note

Description compiled by Jo Klett, project archivist, with reference to S.H. Lavington, Early British Computers (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1980) pp. 74-75.