The visit of HRH Princess Elizabeth to Cadby Hall on 15th February 1951 was surprisingly well-timed
Not only was it almost precisely one year before she was to accede to the throne (6th February 1952) but just a few months before LEO was to become operational later that year, 70 years ago.
The visit to Cadby Hall was in recognition of the excellent catering that had been provided by J Lyons & Co. since 1919 at the many Buckingham Palace Garden Parties. There had been Royal visits to the Lyons Greenford factory in the 1920s by King George V and the Prince of Wales. The Princess’s parents, the King and Queen, had visited Cadby Hall as Duke and Duchess of York in 1931. This was to be the first visit to Cadby Hall by a member of the Royal Family since then, so, one can appreciate that all concerned were well and truly on their mettle!
The visit is described in meticulous detail in the April 1951 issue of Lyons Mail. Greeted by the Chairman, Major Monte Gluckstein, and introduced to the Directors, the Princess was then conducted at what must have been lightning speed, but stopping to chat with many employees through all departments from Sponge Cake, Individual Fruit Pie, Pola Maid Ice Cream, Frood (the new frozen food for air passengers), not forgetting the Swiss Rolls and their incredible weekly 36 miles of manufacture.
With the interest displayed by the Princess, the timing for the tour proved to be extremely ambitious and a rapid on-the-spot rescheduling had to take place, resulting in excluding the Bread Bakery Department. Fortunately, there was time to squeeze in the now historic Royal introduction to LEO. Met by John Simmons, the Princess was introduced to TR Thompson and John Pinkerton, who demonstrated LEO’s capabilities at its present stage of development. The Princess was quick to note an error made by the machine, but it completed its task, much to her amusement, with the typed message: “You see, I can do it”.
At the existing stage of the LEO development, publicity was still understandably low key and it is unlikely that photos were taken during this part of the Royal visit. After detailed research none have been revealed. However, the recently recovered Lenaerts notebooks do provide a useful reflection on the day following the visit. The transcript reads:
16-2-51. HRH was no more and no less impressed than I had expected. The information printed by the Teleprinter was unintelligible except of course for the message printed at the bottom which provided some light relief. Fortunately, LEO made few mistakes – obviously not subject to stage fright and the Dem went off smoothly. A little more interest was shown I think in the interior of the machine when she saw the complexity of the circuits – ‘How many machines like these in existence?’ ‘Only one other in working condition [EDSAC] – no others on commercial clerical problems.’
This auspicious occasion called for an enormous improvement in general tidiness of the lab and I must make an effort to preserve this. My own desk was clear for the occasion – the first time in months.
Work on the machine can go ahead again and I have been given a more or less free hand to proceed on which problem I deem the best tackled first. The object will be to bring the machine to full operating condition as soon as possible so that Caminer & Co can get weaving on some of the programmes that they have kept up their sleeves for so long. The first and most obvious fault to be cleared is the corruption in the Teleprinter which I think are due to a breakthrough in the output Unit. Other troubles to be cleared are occasional “1”s being added into the store. These have the effect of spoiling all of the test programmes received from Cambridge.
Ending the successful Royal visit, the Princess was conducted by Major Monte Gluckstein to the Board Room where she met 12 staff members each with over 50 years’ service, accepted gifts for the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne and signed the Visitors’ Book.
To mark the 70th anniversary of the visit in 2021, a letter from LEO Computers Society on behalf of the Trustees was sent to Her Majesty, reminding her of this important forthcoming anniversary. The reply, received from Windsor Castle, states Her Majesty…
“Fondly remembers her tour of Cadby Hall and viewing Lyons Electronic Office, and much appreciates your thoughtfulness in writing as you did. In return, Her Majesty sends her best wishes to Members of the Society, and to all those associated with the world’s first business computer, for the continued success of the charity.”
As a postscript, it should be mentioned that the only member of the Royal Family to have seen LEO in operation was HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1960, when he visited the Minerva Road, Acton factory and the Hartree House bureau on the same day. Before his departure, he was fascinated to hear LEO III playing the specially compiled strains of ‘The Sailors’ Hornpipe’!
