Peter Bird (IT manager)

{{Use dmy dates|date= September 2017}}

{{Use British English|date= September 2017}}

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| birth_name = Peter John Bird

| birth_date = {{Birth year|1934}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{Death date|2017|08|16|df=y}} (aged 82)

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| occupation = {{Plainlist|

• Computer operator
• Company director

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| employer = {{Plainlist|

• Merchant Navy
• J. Lyons and Co. (1964 to 1991)
• Lyons Computer Services

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Peter John Bird (1934–2017) was a British computer operator in the early days of commercial computing, and rose to be a director of Lyons Computer Services.{{cite news |last1=Land |first1=Frank |title=Peter Bird obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/10/peter-bird-obituary |accessdate=10 September 2017 |work=The Guardian |date=10 September 2017}}

Bird was born in 1934 in north London,{{cite web |last1=Bird |first1=Philip |title=Peter Bird – Obituary|url=http://www.leo-computers.org.uk/images/Peter%20Bird%20Obituary.pdf |publisher=LEO Computers Society |accessdate=10 September 2017}} the second son of Eileen (née Darnell) and Jack Bird, a solicitors’ clerk. He served in the Merchant Navy, eventually becoming a first officer.

Bird worked for J. Lyons and Co. from 1964 to 1991, initially as an operator of the LEO III computer.

From the late 1980s, he developed an interest on the history of computing at Lyons, and thus in the history of the company in general. This led to him writing two books, one on each topic.{{cite web|last1=Bird|first1=Jane|title=UK: The Brief Day of the Lion - J Lyons|url=http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/uk-brief-day-lion-j-lyons/article/409737|publisher=Management Today|accessdate=10 September 2017|date=1 April 1994}}

He also developed a secondary career, as a consultant on Lyons' history for television programmes, on some of which he appeared.

The LEO Computers Society's 2016 book 'LEO Remembered' is dedicated to him.{{cite book|title=LEO Remembered, by the people who worked on the world's first business computers|date=2016|publisher=LEO Computers Society|isbn=978-1527201996}} In later years, he lived in Wokingham.{{cite web |title='LEO Remembered' published! |url=http://www.leo-computers.org.uk/images/LeoBookWeb.pdf |publisher=LEO Computers Society |accessdate=10 September 2017}}

He died on 16 August 2017, aged 82.