LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
built 642 days ago
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the son of an almost as famous father, Sir Mark Isambard Brunel. He was born in Portsmouth on 9 April 1806 according to Marshall, and died in London on 15 September 1859. He was partly educated in France which reflected his father's French (Royalist) background. His engineering skills were developed on his father's great project the Thames Tunnel, where he was resident engineer: this both undermined his health and gave him an appetite for prodigeous engineering projects. His influence upon the steam locomotive was almost entirely indirect as his own efforts were eccentric (see Bryan page 43 for one of his "contributions" to locomotive history). Perhaps the greatest contribution of broad gauge locomotive development was to inspire men like Crampton and Sturrock to produce locomotives of comparable potential for the standard gauge.
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Born in Portsmouth on 9 April, 1806, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the only son of the French civil engineer, Sir Marc Brunel. Like his father, he was destined to follow a similar, equally ambitious engineering career. He was educated at Hove, near Brighton and then studied for two years at the College Henri Quatre in Paris. In 1823 Brunel went to work with his father on the building of the Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping, where he was later appointed as resident engineer when the resident engineer, William Armstrong, resigned due to ill health.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859), taken by Robert Howlett (1831-1858) in November 1857 and published by the London Stereoscopic Company as a carte-de-visite in about 1860. Brunel was one of the foremost engineers of the nineteenth century. As well as shipbuilding, he was responsible for many civil engineering projects including docks, railways and bridges. Here he is photographed in front of the launching chains of his mammoth steamship the 'Great Eastern'. Robert Howlett worked in partnership with Joseph Cundall (1818-1875). He is best known for his series of photographs of the construction and launching of Brunel's ship Great Eastern, and particularly for his portraits of Brunel.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel's first major engineering work, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, brought him to south Wales in search of ironwork. The Merthyr ironmasters recognised his skills and he was engaged to build the Taff Vale Railway. The Taff Vale Railway and the South Wales Railway, the latter linking south Wales to the Great Western Railway system, still operate as part of the railway system today. Other lines engineered by Brunel, such as the Vale of Neath, Llynvi Valley and South Wales Mineral Railway, have not fared so well and have closed over the years with the decline of the coal industry.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel is admired as one of the greatest of all engineers. His leading role in the transport revolution of the 19th century, and especially in the building of the Great Western Railway, left an indelible mark on the British landscape. His achievements captured the imagination of his contemporaries and subsequent generations. His colossal energy and determination to carry out projects on the largest scale to an extremely high standard set him apart from his rivals. "Brunel" tells the story both of the engineer, who followed his father Marc into what was then a new profession, and of the man. It explores his successes and failures, at home and abroad, including both the broad gauge GWR and the SS Great Eastern, bringing out Brunel's imagination, drive and inventiveness. Above all, it sets him in the context of his times, showing both what made him who he was and how he made the most of the great opportunities offered to him.
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The son of an engineer (Marc Isambard Brunel), Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsmouth, England in 1806. He studied in France where he developed an appreciation for the architecture of the Grand Siecle. He entered his father's office in 1822 and apprenticed with his father on the early stages of the construction for the Thames Tunnel. Although he quickly advanced to the position of engineer in charge, his apprenticeship ended when the river broke through the tunneling shield.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel