A Star Is Born: Ideas and Upgrades

Returning to Moston, we describe Ferranti’s efforts to recruit a team of programmers and house them in a special prefabricated building known affectionately as the Tin Hut. What is remarkable about Ferranti’s team of programmers was its size, skill and its high proportion of females—in these respects out-shining competitor groups elsewhere in the UK. One of the wisest people in the Tin Hut was the Australian John Bennett. He suggested some desirable enhancements to the instruction set of the Ferranti Mark I. After much debate, the upgraded version known as the Mark I* (Mark One Star) was launched. Thereafter, the remaining seven members of the Mark I family to be built were of the Star variety. Meanwhile, down in London a group of engineers who had left a rival manufacturer had persuaded Ferranti Ltd. to embark upon the design of a smaller and cheaper computer to be called Pegasus. When this finally entered the market in 1956 it was to prove somewhat of a rival to the Ferranti Mark I*.