Alexander, (Conel) Hugh O'Donel (1909–1974), chess player and cryptanalyst, was born in Cork on 19 April 1909, the eldest of four children of Conel William Long Alexander (1879–1920), professor of engineering at University College, Cork, and his wife, Hilda Barbara Bennett (1881–1964), of ...
Article
Alexander, (Conel) Hugh O'Donel (1909–1974), chess player and cryptanalyst
Harry Golombek
revised by Ralph Erskine
Article
Cooper, Joshua Edward Synge (1901–1981), cryptanalyst and intelligence officer
D. R. Nicoll
revised
Cooper, Joshua Edward Synge (1901–1981), cryptanalyst and intelligence officer, was born on 3 April 1901 in Fulham, the son of Richard Edward Synge Cooper, a chartered engineer, and his wife, Mary Eleanor, youngest daughter of William Burke. Joshua was the eldest of five children, four sons and a daughter, all brought up in ...
Article
Denniston, Alexander Guthrie [Alastair] (1881–1961), cryptanalyst and intelligence officer
F. H. Hinsley
revised by Ralph Erskine
Denniston, Alexander Guthrie [Alastair] (1881–1961), cryptanalyst and intelligence officer, was born on 1 December 1881 at Greenock, the eldest child of James Denniston, a medical practitioner, and his wife, Agnes Guthrie. He was educated at Bowdon College, Cheshire, and at the universities of ...
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Denniston, Alexander Guthrie (1881–1961)
Maker: Lafayette
In
Alexander Guthrie Denniston (1881–1961) by Lafayette, 1933 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Foss, Hugh Rose (1902–1971), cryptanalyst
Michael Smith
Foss, Hugh Rose (1902–1971), cryptanalyst, was born on 13 May 1902 in Kobe, Japan, one of five children of Hugh James Foss (1848–1932), Anglican bishop of Osaka, and his wife, Janet Ovans (b. 1870). He was educated at Hoylake, at Marlborough College...
Article
Grey, Nigel Arthur de (1886–1951), cryptanalyst
Nigel West
Grey, Nigel Arthur de (1886–1951), cryptanalyst, was born on 27 March 1886 at the rectory, Copdock, Suffolk, the son of the Hon. Arnold de Grey (b. 1856), rector of Copdock, and his wife, Margaret Maria Ponsonby Fane. His father was the son of the ...
Article
Hilton, Peter John (1923–2010), code breaker and mathematician
I. M. James
Hilton, Peter John (1923–2010), code breaker and mathematician, was born at 34 Castletown Road, West Kensington, London, on 7 April 1923, the son of Mortimer Jacob Hilton (1893/4–1959), a physician and surgeon who practised in Peckham, south London, and his wife, Elizabeth Amelia, ...
Article
Hinsley, Sir (Francis) Harry (1918–1998), cryptanalyst and historian
Richard Langhorne
Hinsley, Sir (Francis) Harry (1918–1998), cryptanalyst and historian, was born on 26 November 1918 at 28 Rowland Street, Walsall, the son of Thomas Henry Hinsley, ironworks waggoner, and his wife, Emma, née Adey. He went to the local elementary school and then to ...
Article
McVittie, George Cunliffe (1904–1988), astronomer and cryptanalyst
Ralph Erskine
McVittie, George Cunliffe (1904–1988), astronomer and cryptanalyst, was born on 5 June 1904 in Smyrna, Turkey, the eldest of three children (two sons and a daughter) of Francis Skinner McVittie (1872–1950), businessman, and his wife, Emily Caroline (1877–1942), daughter of George Weber from ...
Article
Mitchell [née Williamson], Ann Katharine (1922–2020), mathematician, code-breaker, and social policy researcher
Anne Pimlott Baker
Mitchell [née Williamson], Ann Katharine (1922–2020), mathematician, code-breaker, and social policy researcher, was born on 19 November 1922 at 26 Norham Road, Oxford, the only daughter and eldest of three children of Herbert Stansfield Williamson (1877–1955), a former commissioner in ...
Article
Murray [née Clarke], Joan Elisabeth Lowther (1917–1996), cryptanalyst and numismatist
Ralph Erskine
Murray [née Clarke], Joan Elisabeth Lowther (1917–1996), cryptanalyst and numismatist, was born at 45 Idmiston Road, West Norwood, London, on 24 June 1917, the youngest child (there were three sons, and another daughter) of William Kemp Lowther Clarke, a Church of England...
Article
Strachey, Oliver (1874–1960), cryptanalyst
Ralph Erskine
Strachey, Oliver (1874–1960), cryptanalyst, was born on 3 November 1874 at Stowey House, Clapham Common, London, the third son among the thirteen children of Sir Richard Strachey (1817–1908), public works secretary, India, and former lieutenant-general in the Royal Engineers, and his wife, Jane Maria Strachey, ...
Article
Tiltman, John Hessell (1894–1982), cryptanalyst
D. R. Nicoll
Tiltman, John Hessell (1894–1982), cryptanalyst, was born at 70 Torrington Square, Bloomsbury, London, on 25 May 1894, the youngest in the family of one daughter and two sons of Alfred Hessell Tiltman, architect, and his wife, Sarah Ann Jane Kerr. Tiltman was educated at ...
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Tiltman, John Hessell (1894–1982)
Maker: unknown photographer
In
John Hessell Tiltman (1894–1982) by unknown photographer private collection
Article
Tutte, William Thomas [Bill] (1917–2002), mathematician and codebreaker
Norman Biggs
Tutte, William Thomas [Bill] (1917–2002), mathematician and codebreaker, was born on 14 May 1917 at Fitzroy House, Newmarket, the only child of William John Tutte (d. 1944), gardener, and his wife, Annie, née Newell, cook. After moving around for several years his family settled in ...
Article
Wallis, John (1616–1703), mathematician and cryptographer
Domenico Bertoloni Meli
Wallis, John (1616–1703), mathematician and cryptographer, was born on 3 December 1616 at Ashford in Kent. He was the third of five children of the Revd John Wallis (1567–1622), son of Robert Wallis of Finedon, Northamptonshire, Cambridge BA and MA (Trinity College...
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Wallis, John (1616–1703)
Maker: Sir Godfrey Kneller
In
John Wallis (1616–1703) by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1701 © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Article
Willes, Edward (1694–1773), bishop of Bath and Wells and cryptanalyst
William Marshall
Willes, Edward (1694–1773), bishop of Bath and Wells and cryptanalyst, was born at Bishop's Itchington, Warwickshire, on 6 March 1694, the son of John Willes (1647/8–1700), rector of that parish, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Sir William Walker of Oxfordshire. The judge ...
