Starting in 1952, mathematician Charles Coulson[26] sought funding for Oxford to own its own computer.[4] At this time university members had to hire computer time from elsewhere.[4] In 1956 the University Grants Committee decided to fund the purchase of a Ferranti Mercury and the Oxford University Computing Laboratory was born[4] (shortened OUCL or Comlab). As well as facilitating research elsewhere in the university, the new department had its own academic function, performing research in numerical analysis, and lecturing for mathematics and engineering students.[27] The first director, Leslie Fox,[28][29] was appointed in 1957 and the following year the department moved into its first home, 9 South Parks Road.[27] In 1963 the department moved to 19 Parks Road.[30] The Computing Service (today part of IT Services) was administratively split from the academic department in 1969,[31] although complete independence was only gained in 1978.[32]