Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806-1859)

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

SHIPBUILDER, ENGINEER (GREAT BRITAIN)

BORN 9 Apr 1806, Portsmouth, Hampshire - DIED 15 Sep 1859, London: Westminster
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (041/PS (8590))

Isambard Kingom Brunel was the son of the engineer Marc Isambard Brunel. He was educated in Normandy and Paris. After an apprenticeship with Abraham-Louis Breguet he returned to England in 1822.

He worked for several years as an assistant engineer on a tunner under the River Thames before he started working for the Great Western Railway. For that company he designed the ship "The Great Western". In 1836 he married Mary Elizabeth Horsley, a daughter of the composer William Horsley. He lived with her at Duke Street, Westminster, London.

As an engineer, he was also active designing bridges, among them the Hungerford Bridge (1845) and the Royal Albert Bridge (1855). In 1852 he started work on another ship, "The Great Eastern", the largest ship ever. Before it could make its first trip he suffered a stroke and he died on 15 Sep 1859. He was buried with his father at Kensal Green Cemetery.

Brunel is well remembered for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, that was designed by him but constructed with significant changes. Work was started in 1831 but investors were driven away by the Bristol Riots in that same year and it was completed after his death, between 1862 and 1864.

Family
• Father: Brunel, Marc Isambard

Related persons
• employed Brotherhood, Rowland
• knew Donkin, Bryan
• cooperated with Guppy, Thomas Richard

Images
The grave of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Marc Isambard Brunel at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (26 Jun 2009)	Plaque for Isambard Kingdom Brunel near Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Picture by Androom (25 May 2015)