The 50th birthday of computer pay was celebrated on Thursday, February 26 2004, by a payroll seminar held at the Science Museum in London.
The seminar was arranged by the Computer Conservation Society in association with The Science Museum and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. It was preceded by a champagne buffet reception sponsored by LogicaCMG to celebrate, 50 years
after the event in February, 1954, the "go-live" of the Lyons Bakeries' payroll on the LEO I computer: -
the first payroll and the first major business application on a stored-program computer anywhere in the world.
Thanks to our recent circulars, and possibly the promise of champagne, many Leo people were present, including David Caminer, who designed the original Lyons system and led the programming team.
The payroll seminar was chaired by John Aris, and David Caminer and John Lewis gave the opening presentation on "Early Lyons / LEO payrolls (1954-1959)"
Other presentations covered:
De Havillands (1958) - Peter Barnes and Henry Goodman;
Army Pay and Records (1960) - Colonel Donald Moore;
Royal Navy Dockyards (1964) - Reg Cann;
Payroll as a bureau and package
application through to the present - Bryan Mills.
