Britain’s WWII code-breaking hero Alan Turing will be next face on £50 note, Bank of England reveals

  • Alan Turing has been chosen by Bank of England as next face of the £50 note
  • Public was asked to put forward scientific figures with 989 people proposed
  • Governor Mark Carney made the final decision after advice from experts  
  • Turing was central to cracking German 'Enigma' code during World War II 

Pioneering Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing will be the next person to feature on the £50 note, the Bank of England has confirmed today.

The mathematician, who cracked the German Enigma code and was known as the 'father of computer science' for his innovative methods, was revealed as the new face of the currency at a conference at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester this morning.

It comes after the Bank of England asked the public to nominate a person with a historic scientific contribution for the new note last year.

Governor Mark Carney revealed Turing was chosen from a list of 989 candidates put forward in more than 220,000 nominations.   

The new polymer £50 note is expected to enter circulation by the end of 2021.

Turing was homosexual at a time when it was illegal and he was posthumously pardoned by the Queen after his death in 1954, having previously been convicted of gross indecency for his relationship with a man. 

World War II codebreaker Alan Turing was revealed as the new face on the £50 note, which entered into circulation in June 2021 (pictured)

World War II codebreaker Alan Turing will be the new face on the £50 note, pictured

Mr Carney revealed Turing was chosen from 989 candiates put forward in more than 220,000 nominations
Turing, pictured, was homosexual and was posthumously pardoned by the Queen, having been convicted of gross indecency for his relationship with a man

Mr Carney, left, confirmed today Turing, pictured right, was chosen from 989 eligible figures put forward in 227,299 nominations  

The new design which entered circulation in June of this year also features a table and mathematical formula created by Turing in the 1930s that is cited as the foundation of computer science. Pictured is Mr Carney with an image of the final design

The new design also features a table and mathematical formula created by Turing in the 1930s that is cited as the foundation of computer science. Pictured is Mr Carney with an image of the final design  

The GCHQ, whom Turing worked for after the war until his conviction for a homosexual relationship, said it was delighted he had been picked for the £50 note

The GCHQ, whom Turing worked for after the war until his conviction for a homosexual relationship, said it was delighted he had been picked for the £50 note

The note will also feature a quote from Turing, given in an interview to the Times newspaper on June 11, 1949: 'This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.'

Turing was chosen following the Bank's character selection process which included advice from scientific experts.

In 2018, the Banknote Character Advisory Committee chose to celebrate the field of science on the £50 note, and members of the public were invited to put forward names over a six-week period.

A shortlist was then drawn up by the committee from the 989 people proposed, with the Governor making the final decision.

The Bank said the shortlist demonstrated the breadth of scientific achievement in the UK, from astronomy to physics, chemistry to palaeontology and mathematics to biochemistry.

And the news was welcomed by the British public, with many on social media claiming it was a step in the right direction in making up for the treatment he endured following his conviction. 

The news of Turing being chosen for the £50 was welcomed on social media, with many saying it was deserved for the persecution he suffered over his sexuality

The news of Turing being chosen for the £50 was welcomed on social media, with many saying it was deserved for the persecution he suffered over his sexuality

Others said the honour had come '70 years too late' alongside the posthumous pardon he received just a few years ago

Others said the honour had come '70 years too late' alongside the posthumous pardon he received just a few years ago

One Twitter user wrote: 'Delighted to hear about Alan Turing being the new face for our £50 note. The wonderful hero that saved a nation despite knowing that his very nature was a deemed illegal within it. May it never happen again.'

Another wrote: 'Well done Alan Turing. 70 years too late mind...'

Meanwhile the GCHQ intelligence agency, whom Turing was sacked from following his conviction, also paid tribute to him following the honour.

In a tweet, the agency said: 'We’re delighted that Alan Turing has been chosen by the @bankofengland as the face of the new £50 note.

'Turing was the father of modern computing, a pioneer in #artificialintelligence and instrumental in the breaking of Enigma @bletchleypark during #WWII'.

The LGBT Foundation also tweeted that Turing being chosen meant 'Equality wins'

The LGBT Foundation also tweeted that Turing being chosen meant 'Equality wins'

Those considered alongside Turing were Stephen Hawking, Mary Anning, Paul Dirac, Rosalind Franklin, William Herschel and Caroline Herschel, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, James Clerk Maxwell, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Ernest Rutherford, and Frederick Sanger.

Mr Carney said: 'Alan Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work has had an enormous impact on how we live today.

'As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as war hero, Alan Turing's contributions were far-ranging and path-breaking. Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand.'

Mr Carney said Turing, pictured, had an 'enormous impact on how we live today'

Mr Carney said Turing, pictured, had an 'enormous impact on how we live today'

While Turing is perhaps best-known for his work devising code-breaking machines during the Second World War, which was portrayed in a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, he played a pivotal role in the development of early computers first at the National Physical Laboratory and later at the University of Manchester.

He laid the foundations for work on artificial intelligence by considering the question of whether machines could think. 

The new design will feature a photo of Turing taken in 1951, which is part of the Photographs Collection at the National Portrait Gallery.

There will also be a table and mathematical formulae from a 1936 paper by Turing which is widely recognised as being a foundation for computer science.

It sought to establish whether there could be a definitive method by which something could be assessed as provable or not using a universal machine.

The design will also feature technical drawings for the British Bombe - one of the main methods used to break Enigma-enciphered messages during the Second World War.

The Enigma enciphering machine was believed to be unbreakable as the cipher changed continuously. 

Turing was able to crack the code of the German Enigma machine, pictured, which enabled the British to learn of enemy plans and where submarine attacks were likely to take place

Turing was able to crack the code of the German Enigma machine, pictured, which enabled the British to learn of enemy plans and where submarine attacks were likely to take place

Turing's life was immortalised on screen in 2014's The Imitation Game in which Benedict Cumberbatch, right, starred as the mathematician alongside Keira Knightley, left

Turing's life was immortalised on screen in 2014's The Imitation Game in which Benedict Cumberbatch, right, starred as the mathematician alongside Keira Knightley, left 

But Turing was able to build a computer capable of cracking the code, with the first wartime Enigma messages broken in January 1940.

Enigma traffic continued to be broken routinely at Bletchley Park for the remainder of the war.   

Turing's signature from the visitors' book at Bletchley Park in 1947, where he worked during the war, will also be included, alongside ticker tape depicting Turing's birth date - June 23 1912 - in binary code.

The concept of a machine fed by binary tape featured in Turing's 1936 paper.

The current £50 note, which was first issued in 2011, features leading lights of the Industrial Revolution Matthew Boulton and James Watt.

Bank of England Chief Cashier Sarah John said: 'The strength of the shortlist is testament to the UK's incredible scientific contribution.

'The breadth of individuals and achievements reflects the huge range of nominations we received for this note and I would to thank the public for all their suggestions of scientists we could celebrate.'

Who was Alan Turing? Pioneering scientist who helped crack Hitler's enigma machine only to be convicted for homosexuality after WWII

Alan Turing (pictured) was a British mathematician best known for his work cracking the enigma code during the Second World War

Alan Turing (pictured) was a British mathematician best known for his work cracking the enigma code during the Second World War

Alan Turing was a British mathematician born on June 23, 1912 In Maida Vale, London, to father Julius, a civil servant, and mother Ethel, the daughter of a railway engineer. 

His talents were recognised early on at school but he struggled with his teachers when he began boarding at Sherborne School aged 13 because he was too fixated on science. 

Turing continued to excel at maths but his time at Sherborne was also rocked by the death of his close friend Christopher Morcom from tuberculosis. Morcom was described as Turing's 'first love' and he remained close with his mother following his death, writing to her on Morcom's birthday each year. 

He then moved on to Cambridge where he studied at King's College, graduating with a first class degree in mathematics.  

During the Second World War, Turing was pivotal in cracking the Enigma codes used by the German military to encrypt their messages.

His work gave Allied leaders vital information about the movement and intentions of Hitler’s forces.

Historians credit the work of Turing and his fellow codebreakers at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire with shortening the war by up to two years, saving countless lives, and he was awarded an OBE in 1946 for his services. 

Turing is also widely seen as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence due to his groundbreaking work in mathematics in the 1930s.

He was able to prove a 'universal computing machine' would be able to perform equations if they were presented as an algorithm - and had a paper published on the subject in 1936 in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society Journal when he was aged just 23. 

But he was disgraced in 1952 when he was convicted for homosexual activity, which was illegal at the time and would not be decriminalised until 1967.

To avoid prison, Turing agreed to ‘chemical castration’ – hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido.

As well as physical and emotional damage, his conviction had led to the removal of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for GCHQ, the successor to the Government Code and Cypher School, based at Bletchley Park. 

Turing was awarded an OBE in 1946 for his codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, pictured, which is credited with ending World War II two years early

Turing was awarded an OBE in 1946 for his codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, pictured, which is credited with ending World War II two years early

Then In 1954, aged 41, he died of cyanide poisoning. An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide, although his mother and others maintained that his death was accidental. 

When his body was discovered, an apple laid half-eaten next to his bed. It was never tested for cyanide but it is speculated it was the source of the fatal dose. 

Some more peculiar theories suggest Turing was 'obsessed' with fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and his death was inspired by the poisoned apple in the story. 

Following a public outcry over his treatment and conviction, the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology in 2009. 

He then received a posthumous Royal pardon in 2014, only the fourth to be issued since the end of the Second World War.

It was requested by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, who described Turing as a national hero who fell foul of the law because of his sexuality.

An e-petition demanding a pardon for Turing had previously received 37,404 signatures. 

A 2017 law, that retroactively pardoned all men cautioned or convicted for homosexual acts under historical legislation, was named in his honour. 

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