Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806-59), engineer, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

Isambard was the only son of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, and he went to school in Paris as a young man.

Afterwards, he worked with his father on the first tunnel under the River Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping (1825-28).

In 1831 he designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the gorge of the River Avon at Bristol. Brunel's other bridges include the Royal Albert over the River Tamar at Saltash, Cornwall.

Two years later he was placed in charge of building the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol. He designed all the tunnels, bridges and viaducts on this line.

He then designed the first steamship built to cross the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Western (launched 1837).

He also designed the Great Britain (launched 1843) which was the first ship driven by a screw (underwater propeller) to cross the Atlantic and also the first iron ship to make the crossing. The Great Britain, restored to her original form, is now in dock at Bristol, after being used for many years as a coaling hulk in the Falkland Isles.

Finally he designed the Great Eastern (launched 1858), an iron steamship five times larger than any other ship afloat.

See Annabel Gillings Brunel