Obituary: Mary Lee Berners-Lee

[ShotsFired]

I never knew Tim B-L's mum was such an amazing woman with such a huge influence on her children's future careers (and indirectly, the world). Her obit is an account of a good life well lived:

"Mary Lee Berners-Lee could justifiably call herself “the grandmother of the web”. Not only did her son Tim invent the world wide web, but she also played a significant role in the development of British computing. She was a champion of women’s rights, leading the march for equal pay at Ferranti...."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mary-berners-lee-d9wzqvhm7?shareToken=d06bbb1dad667d7d0091a87e3317be7a

Lovely stuff. Thanks for posting. I don't know enough about the woman programmers of yore - and I didn't know Tim B-L's mum was a programmer.

As the programs became more complex, so demand for computer time increased. In particular, Berners-Lee’s simultaneous equations were demanding more of the machine than most programs did, so she became caught in the middle of a “tremendous row” between engineers and programmers. This led to another equality battle. Increasingly the programmers were working late, taking turns to use the computer, but the company decreed it morally improper for young women to work at night alongside men. This created an unfair advantage for the men. Once again Berners-Lee took on management and won. “We used to get through the night on black coffee,” she recalled of her triumph.

Tim Berners-Lee's success makes me think Ian Dury was right!

Noel Coward was a charmer.
As a writer he was brahma.
Velvet jackets and pyjamas,
"The Gay Divorcee" and other dramas.
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever bas-tards.

Van Gogh did some eyeball pleasers.
He must have been a pencil squeezer.
He didn't do the Mona Lisa,
That was an Italian geezer.
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever bas-tards.

Einstein can't be classed as witless.
He claimed atoms were the littlest.
When you did a bit of splitting-em-ness
Frighten everybody shitless

There ain't half been some clever bastards.
Probably got help from their mum
(who had help from her mum).
There ain't half been some clever bastards.
Now that we've had some,
Let's hope that there's lots more to come.
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever bas-tards.
Okey-dokey!
Oh!
Segovia.
Da-laa la-laa da-daa da-lee
De dump di dump de dump-dump-diddle li-lee.
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever bastards
(Lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders)
There ain't half been some clever........
..................................bastards.

Thanks for posting, what an interesting life.

Thanks for sharing this!

Thank you so much for sharing. I’m ashamed that I didn’t hear more about her when she died.

Thanks for sharing. I've shared it with DH and DDs.