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10 unusual facts about Isambard Kingdom Brunel


1838 in the United Kingdom

8–23 April — Isambard Kingdom Brunel's paddle steamer SS Great Western (completed on 31 March) makes the Transatlantic Crossing to New York from Avonmouth in fifteen days, inaugurating a regular steamship service.

Aircraft catapult

Like Brunel's Atmospheric Railway the tube of the catapult has a longitudinal valve covering the slot except where it is displaced to allow the connection to the internal piston to pass through.

Brunel Manor

The Manor, along with its gardens were designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to be his retirement home.

Dundrum, County Down

The SS Great Britain, one of the first iron ships and designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was on its way from Liverpool to New York in 1846, when it ran aground during bad weather in Dundrum Bay.

Heart Bristol

It should also be noted that GWR's oldies service was originally called Brunel Classic Gold, after the Great Western Railway's founding father Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Millwall

On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time, the SS Great Eastern designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched from Napier Yard, the shipyard leased by Messrs J Scott Russell & Co.

Sophia Kingdom

They had two daughters, Sophia and Emma, followed by a son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, born on 9 April 1806.

Starcross

A notable feature of Starcross is the Italianate pumping engine house, the best surviving building from Brunel's unsuccessful Atmospheric Railway.

Tony Pollard

In 2008 his first novel The Minutes of the Lazarus Club, a thriller based on the life of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was published by Michael Joseph.

Tunnel über der Spree

To avoid confusion with fanclubs of the singer Henriette Sontag, the name was changed to "Tunnel over the Spree," a topical reference to Isambard Kingdom Brunel's tunnel under the Thames, which would lead to an abortive effort to create a similar tunnel in Berlin.


Berks and Hants Railway

Mortimer railway station on the Basingstoke branch is a good example of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's "chalet" style station; the main building has a wide roof that extends beyond the walls on all four sides to give shelter to passengers and there is a small waiting shelter on the opposite platform that is in matching style.

Bristol and South Wales Union Railway

Isambard Kingdom Brunel surveyed a route across the Severn and the ferry at New Passage was purchased, but the line failed to raise enough money so was not built.

British Constructional Steelwork Association

Wrought iron construction of bridges in the UK was later pioneered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Clifton Suspension Bridge and Royal Albert Bridge) and Robert Stephenson, son of George (Newcastle's High Level Bridge).

David Young Community Academy

The school is divided into six houses: Brunel (after Isambard Kingdom Brunel); Da Vinci (after Leonardo da Vinci); Hadid (after Zaha Hadid); Hopper (after Grace Hopper); Telford (after Thomas Telford); and Whittle (after Frank Whittle).

Dumpy level

In 1832, English civil engineer William Gravatt, who had worked with Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard on the Thames Tunnel, was commissioned by Mr. H.R. Palmer to examine a scheme for the South Eastern Railway's route from London to Dover.

Gloucester Hole

Suggestions include its use by the Shirenewton Quakers for storing tea, or for the storing of explosives by Brunel when the railway was built.

John Donkin

He married Caroline Hawes, granddaughter of William Hawes, notable as founder of the Royal Humane Society, and was the daughter of Benjamin Hawes, notable for sponsoring Marc Brunel, and was sister of Benjamin Hawes and so sister-in-law to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Lübeck-Büchen Railway Company

Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the designer of London's Thames Tunnel (1825–1843) also offered their services to Müller.

Matthew Digby Wyatt

He assisted Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the London terminus of the Great Western Railway at Paddington Station (1854) and later designed a considerable expansion to the Temple Meads station (1871–8) in Bristol.

Millbay

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was engaged to design new docks; both he and Gill were involved in the South Devon Railway, so it is no surprise that the first railway station in Plymouth was opened nearby in 1849.

Prefabricated building

In 1855 during the Crimean War, after Florence Nightingale wrote a letter to The Times, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was commissioned to design a prefabricated modular hospital.

South Devon Banks

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in surveying the South Devon Railway, opted to push a line along a coastal strip between the Exe and Teign valleys, and then to climb the southern outliers of Dartmoor making for the head of the Plym estuary.

Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt

He published his research in 1856 and was congratulated for the clarity and practicality of his work by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was building the South Devon Railway at the time.

Tunnel Through the Deeps

Captain Washington and Sir Isambard Brassey-Brunel (descendant of Isambard Kingdom Brunel) get together to link the heart of the British Empire with its far-flung Atlantic colony in North America, although they fall out over Augustine's wooing of Isabard's young daughter, Iris, and as a result of disputes over engineering techniques.

Wellington Bank, Somerset

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed engineer, and his assistant William Gravatt surveyed the route in 1835 and was resident engineer for the section between Bristol and White Ball, with William Froude supervising the section from Whiteball to Exeter.