Oxford Inscriptions: John Herivel, 75 Lonsdale Road
JOHN HERIVEL
Mathematician
and
Codebreaker
lived here
1975–2011
Susan / mec heht gewyrcan
[“Susan ordered me to be made”]
The inscription on the edge imitates
“Aelfred mec heht gewyrcan”
on the Alfred Jewel in the
Ashmolean Museum
This unofficial plaque to John Herivel was created by his daughter Susan Herivel, a ceramic artist, and was unveiled at 75 Lonsdale Road on 10 May 2014, exactly 74 years since Herivel's Tip, or Herivelismus, enabled the team at Bletchley Park to make a breakthrough in cracking the Enigma code.
- Oxford Mail, 12 May 2014: “Woman crafts own plaque to honour codebreaker dad”
- BBC News Oxford: “WW2 Bletchley Park codebreaker John Herivel awarded plaque”