November 27, 1852 - Ada’s Death and Burial

On November 27, 1852, 168 years ago, Ada died of either uterine or cervical cancer at only thirty-six-years-old.

Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Hucknall, England where Lord Byron and Ada Lovelace rest in peace.

“They said she could not possibly have lived so long, were it not for the tremendous vitality of the brain, that would not die.” Imagine what Ada could have accomplished if she had lived into her fifties? Or sixties? “Had [Ada] survived longer, there is no telling what even more significant contributions to science she could have made” —Florence Nightingale, her friend. (Taranovich).

On her deathbed Ada apparently said something to her husband secretly which upset him so much that he left and did not return. It’s possible it was about one of her many rumored infidelities.

Ada was the same age as her father Lord Byron when he died. Neither Babbage or Ada’s mother attended her funeral. Against her mother’s wishes, Ada chose to be buried in the Byron family vault inside the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, a small town in England. She had made Charles Babbage her executor who carried out her wishes.

“Had [Ada] survived longer, there is no telling what even more significant contributions to science she could have made” (Taranovich).

Ada’s Obituary