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Henry Marc Brunel (1842-1903)
The following is the text of the obituary published by the Institution of Civil Engineers: Obituaries 1903. [174]
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Henry Marc Brunel was born in Westminster on 27th June 1842, being the second son of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the celebrated Engineer of the Great Western Railway and of the steamship "Great Eastern," and consequently grandson of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, the Engineer of the Thames Tunnel.
He was educated at Harrow and at King's College, London.
Although only seventeen years old when his father died, he had taken a personal part in some of his later engineering works, notably in the launch of the "Great Eastern," and his contributions to the life of "I. K. Brunel " (published in 1870) which his brother (the late Dr. Isambard Brunel) and he had been engaged for some years in compiling, are in some measure descriptions at first hand.
He served his time as a premium apprentice at Messrs. Armstrong's Works at Elswick, and subsequently became a pupil and assistant of Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Hawkshaw, with whom he remained until about 1870. During his service with Sir John Hawkshaw he was engaged, amongst other things, in an elaborate series of soundings in the English Channel, which were undertaken for the purpose of selecting the best route for the early scheme of a channel tunnel proposed by Sir John Hawkshaw.
He was subsequently engaged with other members of Sir John's staff in a very elaborate examination into the condition of the Caledonian Railway with the lines affiliated therewith. He also acted as assistant to the resident engineers in the Construction of Penarth Dock near Cardiff and of the Albert Dock at Hull.
His strictly professional work during the period between 1870 and 1878 included the construction of a large reservoir for the water-supply of Torquay and a careful and complete investigation of methods for the prevention of waste; also a visit to Brazil for the purpose of examining and reporting on an important installation of hydraulic hoists at Bahia, and engagements in connection with a variety of parliamentary proposals.
Apart from these subjects, being a friend and devoted disciple of the late Mr. William Froude, F.R.S., formerly a member of his father's engineering staff, he took a lively interest in the scientific researches bearing on Naval Architecture. In the experiments on ships of H.M. Navy which were made during this period, in connection with these researches of Mr. Froude, he placed his time and talents for several years at Mr. Froude's disposal.
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Henry Marc Brunel - source unknown [002] |
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In 1878 be entered into partnership with Mr. (now Sir John) Wolfe Barry, and his subsequent professional career is bound up with that of Sir John and other partners. He was intimately concerned with all that they undertook, but in particular may be mentioned the important Barry Dock in South Wales, the St. Paul's Station and railway bridge over the Thames at Blackfriars, The Tower Bridge, and the bridge recently completed at Connel Ferry, near Oban.
In the autumn of 1901 he had a slight apoplectic stroke, followed a few months later by the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain, from the effect of which he never fully recovered. His death took place in Westminster, where he had resided all his life, on 7th October 1903, at the age of sixty-one.
He because a Member of this Institution in 1873; and was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the Institution of Naval Architects. [016]
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