Neil Papworth
Neil Papworth (born 1969) is a British software architect, designer and developer. He is known as the sender of the first ever text message (also known as SMS message) in 1992.
Neil Papworth
- Name
- Neil Papworth
- Born
- 28 December 1969
- Birthplace
- Reading, Berkshire, UK
- Occupation
- Software architect Designer, developer, & test engineer
- Known for
- Sending the world’s first text message
- Spouse
- Jennifer Papworth (2007-present)
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
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Neil Papworth (born 1969) is a British software architect, designer and developer. He is known as the sender of the first ever text message (also known as SMS message) in 1992.
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Neil Papworth (born 1969) is a British designer, programmer and software architect. The designer was born in Reading. Neil Papworth lived in Montreal. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q15731888 · wikipedia · Neil Papworth
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Neil Papworth • Born — 28 December 1969 • Birthplace — Reading, Berkshire, UK • Occupation — Software architect Designer, developer, & test engineer • Years Active — 1988-present • Known for — Sending the world’s first text message • Spouse — Jennifer Papworth (2007-present) • Children — 3 • Website — neilpapworth.com
Personal life
Personal life
Neil Papworth was born on 28 December 1969 in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Papworth obtained his HND (Higher National Diploma) in Computer Studies from the University of West London. He spent his childhood in Wokingham, Berkshire, and began his professional career at Ferranti International in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Papworth then settled in Toronto, Canada in 2000 and later moved to Montreal in 2002.
Career
Career
Neil Papworth started his career at Ferranti International in Bracknell on aeronautical and military applications from 1988 to 1991. He designed and programmed a movable vehicle satellite antenna and implemented software for automated helicopter-landing aids. In 1991, he began working for Sema Group in Reading, Berkshire. He spent a large amount of time from 1993 onwards travelling around the world installing SMS systems. He relocated to Sema Group's Toronto office in January 2000. He settled in Montreal, Quebec in September 2002. He remained with Sema Group (which became Airwide Solutions) until 2011. Since then, he worked for Tekelec, a telecommunications company, recently bought by Oracle Corporation. He worked at Oracle on 4G related technologies. In 2018, he started working at TriNimbus, a company providing Amazon Web Services consulting to customers, which was subsequently acquired by Onica in 2018, and then Onica was subsequently acquired by Rackspace in 2019.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1969
Neil Papworth born at Reading.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Montreal
Named but not plotted · 1
Reading.
Birth place
Contribution to text messaging
In 1992, Neil Papworth was working as a developer and test engineer at Sema Group Telecoms, in a team developing a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) for their customer, Vodafone UK in Newbury, Berkshire. As part of this project, he sent the world's first text message, on 3 December 1992, at the age of 22. It was sent from a computer. The message was "Merry Christmas", and was sent to Richard Jarvis, a director at Vodafone, who was enjoying his office Christmas party. Richard Jarvis received the message on an Orbitel 901 handset. He said in 2017 that he only sends a few texts per day and that they are typically "fairly dull." He does not use the emoji menu. Papworth gained popularity during the 10th and 20th anniversaries of the first text message, as highlighted in the press, and has been featured in several outlets such as a Super Bowl commercial, a documentary movie, a Jeopardy! question, and radio talk shows.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- VIAF cluster 1657390 for Neil Papworth, aggregating national library name authorities.
General reference · OCLC
reference work
- “Neil Papworth”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q15731888: Neil Papworth
General reference · Wikidata
Literature
Scholarly footprint
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hppy bthdy txt!. BBC. 3 December 2002.
- 2.Vodafone marks the 20th Anniversary of the world’s first SMS. Malta Independent. 3 December 2012.
- 3.Rashmee Ahmed. UK hails 10th birthday of SMS. Times of India. December 4, 2002.
- 4.Roberto Rocha. OMG! Txt msgs r 15 yrs old :). Montreal Gazette. December 8, 2007.
- 5.Ingri Peritz. He sent the first text message 20 years ago, and forever changed the world. The Globe and Mail. November 30, 2012.
- 6.Tracy McVeigh. Text messaging turns 20. The Guardian. 1 December 2012.
- 7.Paul Irish. Text messaging turns 20 today. The Star. December 3, 2012.
- 8.Mark Hachman. SMS 4EVR, LOL: The Text Message Turns 20. PC Magazine. December 3, 2012.
- 9.'It didn't feel momentous at all,' says developer who sent world's 1st text message 25 years ago. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 December 2017.
- 10.Mobile Planet (2008). IMDb.
References
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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