Gordon Welchman
| Gordon Welchman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
6 May 1906 Fishponds, Bristol, England |
| Died | 10 August 1985 (aged 79) Newburyport, Massachusetts, US |
| Occupation | Mathematician, codebreaker, author |
William Gordon Welchman (15 June 1906, Bristol, England – 8 October 1985, Newburyport, Massachusetts, US) was a British mathematician, university professor, Second World War codebreaker at Bletchley Park and author. After the war he moved to the US, and later took American citizenship.
Gordon Welchman was born, the youngest of three children, at Fishponds in Bristol, to William Welchman (1866-1954) and Elizabeth Marshall Griffith. William was a priest who, after missionary work abroad, returned to England and became a country vicar. He eventually became archdeacon of Bristol. Elizabeth was the daughter of a priest, the Revd Edward Moule Griffith.
Welchman was educated at Marlborough College and then studied mathematics as a scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1925 to 1928. In 1929, he became a Research Fellow in Mathematics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, a Fellow in 1932 and later Dean of the College.
Just before the Second World War, Welchman was invited by Commander Alastair Denniston to join the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, in the event of war. He was one of four early recruits (the others being Alan Turing, Hugh Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry), who all made significant contributions at Bletchley and who became known as "the wicked uncles". They were also the four signatories to an influential letter, delivered to Winston Churchill in October 1941, asking for more resources for the code-breaking work at Bletchley Park. Churchill responded with one of his "Action This Day" written comments.
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