View source for Marc Isambard Brunel

{{Short description|French-British engineer (1769–1849)}}
{{For|the American football quarterback|Mark Brunell}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{one source|date = April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
|honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
|name          = Marc Isambard Brunel
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FRSE}}
|image         = Sir Marc Isambard Brunel by James Northcote.jpg
|image_size    = 200px
|caption       = ''[[Portrait of Marc Isambard Brunel]]'' by [[James Northcote (painter)|James Northcote]], 1813
|birth_name    = Marc Isambard Brunel
|birth_date    = {{birth date|df=yes|1769|4|25}}
|birth_place   = [[Hacqueville]], [[Normandy]], France
|death_date    = {{death date and age|df=yes|1849|12|12|1769|4|25}}  
|death_place   = [[Westminster]], [[London]], England
|resting_place = [[Kensal Green Cemetery]]
|nationality   ={{Plainlist |
* French (1769–1796)
* American (1796–1849)
}}
|known_for     = [[Thames Tunnel]]
|education     = 
|employer      = 
|occupation    = Engineer
|spouse        = {{marriage|[[Sophia Kingdom]]|1 November 1799}}
|children      = {{hlist|Sophie|Emma|[[Isambard Kingdom Brunel|Isambard]]}}
|parents       = 
|relatives     = 
| module        = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance    = {{Flag|Kingdom of France}}
| branch        = [[French Navy]]
| serviceyears  = 1786–1792
| awards        = [[Knight Bachelor]], 1841
}}
}}
[[File:Bust of Marc Isambard Brunel, Science Museum, London.jpg|thumb|260px|Bust of Marc Isambard Brunel, Science Museum, London]]

'''Sir Marc Isambard Brunel''' ({{IPAc-en|b|r|uː|ˈ|n|ɛ|l}}, {{IPA|fr|maʁk izɑ̃baʁ bʁynɛl|lang}}; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-American engineer active in the United States and Britain,{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}}<ref name=Hyman/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marc-Isambard-Brunel|title=Sir Marc Isambard Brunel &#124; French-British engineer|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=21 April 2023 }}</ref> most famous for the [[civil engineering]] work he did in the latter.{{sfn|Rolt|1957|p=6}} He is known for having overseen the process for and construction of the [[Thames Tunnel]], for his work for the [[Royal Navy]], and as the father of the British civil and mechanical engineer, [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]].<ref name="Britanica">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel |author= |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |date=20 January 2023 |access-date=16 February 2023 |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isambard-Kingdom-Brunel}}</ref>

Born in [[France]], Brunel preferred his given name Isambard (but is generally known in history as Marc, to avoid confusion with his famous son). Brunel fled to the United States during the [[French Revolution]], and involved himself in engineering and architectural pursuits, including offering an impressive design for the new [[United_States_Capitol | United States Capitol Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}}{{sfnp|Kentley|Hulse|Elton|2006|pp = 15—16}}  After being naturalized in 1796, he was appointed Chief Engineer of [[New York City]], and went on to design military, commercial, and other buildings.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}}

He moved to [[London]] in 1799, where he married [[Sophia Kingdom]]. In Britain, his work as a mechanical engineer included the design of machinery to automate the production of [[pulley block]]s for the [[Royal Navy]], and he went on to design and patent a "shield" to protect tunneling workers, and to oversee construction of the [[Thames Tunnel]]. The tunnel opened on 25 March 1843 (later passing to railway companies and the [[London Underground]]), and remains in use today.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=97-100}}

The events of Brunel's life spanned from a period of indebtedness and prison over failed business ventures,{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=51-57}} to his being [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by the young [[Queen Victoria]] (in 1841),{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=87-96}} in anticipation of his successful completion of the Thames Tunnel, recognition preceded by his being named, in sequence, beginning in 1814, to the [[Royal Society]] (Fellow), the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]], the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], and following the tunnel's completion, his being named an Honorary Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (in 1845).{{sfnp|American Academy of Arts and Sciences|p=73}}{{sfnp|Waterston|Shearer|2006|p=131}}

== Early life in France ==
{{refimprove section|date=April 2025}}
Brunel was the second son of Jean Charles Brunel and Marie-Victoire Lefebvre. Jean Charles was a prosperous farmer in [[Hacqueville]], Normandy, and Marc was born on the family farm. It was customary in prosperous families for the first son to inherit the family land and the second son to enter the priesthood. His father therefore started Marc on a classical education, but he showed no liking for Greek or Latin and instead showed himself proficient in drawing and mathematics. He was also very musical from an early age.

At the age of eleven he was sent to a [[seminary]] in [[Rouen]]. The superior of the seminary allowed him to learn carpentry, and he soon achieved the standards of a cabinetmaker. He also sketched ships in the local harbour. As he showed no desire to become a priest, his father sent him to stay with relatives in Rouen, where a family friend tutored him on naval matters. In 1786, as a result of this tuition, Marc became a naval cadet on a French frigate and during his service visited the West Indies several times. He made an [[octant (instrument)|octant]] for himself from brass and ivory,{{sfnp|Brunel|1822}} and used it during his service.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=11–16}}

In 1789, during Brunel's service abroad, the [[French Revolution]] began. In January 1792 Brunel's frigate paid off its crew, and Brunel returned to live with his relatives in Rouen. He was a Royalist sympathiser, as were most of the inhabitants of Normandy. In January 1793, whilst visiting Paris during the trial of [[Louis XVI]], Brunel unwisely publicly predicted the demise of [[Robespierre]], one of the leaders of the Revolution. He was lucky to get out of Paris with his life, and returned to Rouen. However, it was evident that he would have to leave France. During his stay in Rouen, Brunel had met [[Sophia Kingdom]], a young English woman who was an orphan and was working as a governess. He was forced to leave her behind when he fled to [[Le Havre]] and boarded the American ship ''Liberty'', bound for New York.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=11–16}}

== United States ==
Per the account of [[R. Anthony Hyman]],<blockquote>Brunel... a royalist... after service on a corvette escaped to the United States. There he worked for six years as architect and engineer, taking American citizenship.<ref name=Hyman>Hyman, p. 144</ref></blockquote>
Brunel arrived in New York on 6 September 1793, and he subsequently travelled to [[Philadelphia]] and [[Albany, New York|Albany]]. He got involved in a scheme to link the [[Hudson River]] by canal with [[Lake Champlain]], and also submitted a design for the new [[United States Capitol|Capitol building]] to be built in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. The judges were very impressed with the design, but it was not selected.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}}{{sfnp|Kentley|Hulse|Elton|2006|pp = 15—16}}

In 1796, after taking citizenship, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the city of New York. He designed various houses, docks, commercial buildings, an arsenal, and a cannon factory. No official records exist of the projects that he carried out in New York, and it seems likely that the documents were destroyed in the [[New York draft riots]] of 1863.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}} In 1798, during a dinner conversation, Brunel learnt of the difficulties that the [[Royal Navy]] had in obtaining the 100,000 [[pulley block]]s that it needed each year. Each of these was made by hand. Brunel quickly produced an outline design of a set of machines that would automate their production. He decided to sail to England and put his invention before the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]]. He sailed for England on 7 February 1799 with a letter of introduction to the Navy Minister, and on 7 March his ship, ''Halifax'', landed at [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]].{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=17–21}}<ref name=Hyman/>

== Britain ==
While Brunel was in the United States, Sophia Kingdom had remained in Rouen and during the [[Reign of Terror]], she was arrested as an English spy and daily expected to be executed. She was only saved by the fall of [[Robespierre]] in June 1794. In April 1795 Kingdom was able to leave France and travel to London.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=22–50}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2025}}

When Brunel arrived from the United States, he immediately travelled to London and made contact with Kingdom. They were married on 1 November 1799 at [[St Andrew, Holborn]]. In 1801 she gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Sophia;<ref>Baptism Register accounts as baptism 27.1.01</ref> in 1804 their second daughter Emma; and in 1806 their son [[Isambard Kingdom]], who became a great engineer.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=22–50}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2025}} Isambard Kingdom grew up in [[Lindsey House]] in [[Chelsea, London]].
[[File:PulleyShip.JPG|thumb|One multiple- and one single-sheave pulley block for rigging on a sailing ship]]
During the summer of 1799 Brunel was introduced to [[Henry Maudslay]], a talented engineer who had worked for [[Joseph Bramah]], and had recently started his own business. Maudslay made working models of the machines for making [[pulley]] blocks, and Brunel approached [[Samuel Bentham]], the Inspector General of Naval Works. In April 1802 Bentham recommended the installation of Brunel's block-making machinery at [[Portsmouth Block Mills]]. Brunel's machine could be operated by unskilled workers, at ten times the previous rate of production.{{sfnp|Gilbert|1965|pp=4-6}} Altogether 45 machines were installed at Portsmouth, and by 1808 the plant was producing 130,000 blocks per year. Unfortunately for Brunel, the Admiralty vacillated over payment, despite the fact that Brunel had spent more than £2,000 of his own money on the project. In August 1808 they agreed to pay £1,000 on account, and two years later they consented to a payment of just over £17,000.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=22–50}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2025}}

Brunel was a talented mechanical engineer, and did much to develop sawmill machinery, undertaking contracts for the [[British Government]] at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]] and [[Woolwich]] dockyards, building on his experience at the Portsmouth Block Mills. He built a sawmill at [[Battersea]], London (burnt down in 1814 and rebuilt by 1816), which was designed to produce [[wood veneer|veneers]], and he also designed sawmills for entrepreneurs. He also developed machinery for [[mass production|mass-producing]] soldiers' boots, but before this could reach full production, demand ceased due to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Brunel was made a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1814. In 1828, he was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. Brunel was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1834.{{sfnp|American Academy of Arts and Sciences|p=73}} In 1845 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]].{{sfnp|Waterston|Shearer|2006|p=131}}

== Debtors' prison ==
Despite an historically successful endeavor—a "pioneering enterprise in mass production"—in the automation of [[pulley | block]] manufacturing,{{sfnp|Gilbert|1965}} and his recognition in 1814 as a [[Royal Society]] Fellow,{{sfnp|Waterston|Shearer|2006|p=131}} the payment difficulties experienced with the Admiralty{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=22–50}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2025}} and further unprofitable ventures led to Burnel being deeply in debt by early 1821; in May of that year he was tried and then committed to the [[King's Bench Prison]] (a [[debtors' prison]]) in [[Southwark]]. Prisoners in a debtors' prison were allowed to have their family with them, and Sophia accompanied him. Brunel spent 88 days incarcerated. As time passed with no prospect of gaining release, Brunel began to correspond with [[Alexander I of Russia]] about the possibility of moving with his family to [[St Petersburg]] to work for the [[Tsar]]. As soon as it was learnt that Britain was likely to lose such an eminent engineer as Brunel, influential figures, such as the [[Duke of Wellington]], began to press for government intervention. The government granted £5,000 to clear Brunel's debts on condition that he abandon any plans to go to Russia. As a result, Brunel was released from prison in August.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=51–57}}

== Thames Tunnel ==
{{Main article|Thames Tunnel}}
[[File:Banquet in the Thames Tunnel.png|thumb|''[[Banquet in the Thames Tunnel]]'' by [[George Jones (painter)|George Jones]], 1827. Marc Brunel is shown on the left with his son Isambard.]]
[[File:Thames tunnel construction 1830.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Inside the [[Thames Tunnel]] during construction, 1830]]

In 1805 the Thames Archway Company was formed with the intention of driving a tunnel beneath the Thames between [[Rotherhithe]] and [[Limehouse]]. [[Richard Trevithick]] was engaged by the company to construct the tunnel. He used [[Cornish people|Cornish]] miners to work on the tunnel. In 1807 the tunnel encountered quicksand and conditions became difficult and dangerous. Eventually the tunnel was abandoned after more than 1,000 feet had been completed, and expert opinion, led by [[William Jessop]], was that such a tunnel was impracticable.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=62–70}}

Brunel had already drawn up plans for a tunnel under the [[River Neva]] in Russia, but this scheme never came to fruition. In 1818 Brunel had patented a [[tunnelling shield]]. This was a reinforced shield of cast iron in which miners would work in separate compartments, digging at the tunnel-face. Periodically the shield would be driven forward by large jacks, and the tunnel surface behind it would be lined with brick. It is claimed that Brunel found the inspiration for his tunnelling shield from the [[shipworm]], ''[[Teredo navalis]]'', which has its head protected by a hard shell whilst it bores through ships' timbers.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=62–70}}

Brunel's invention provided the basis for subsequent tunnelling shields used to build the [[London Underground]] system and many other tunnels. Brunel was so convinced that he could use such a tunnelling shield to dig a tunnel under the Thames, that he wrote to every person of influence who might be interested. At last in February 1824 a meeting was held and 2,128 shares at £50 each were subscribed for. In June 1824 the Thames Tunnel Company was incorporated by royal assent. The tunnel was intended for horse-drawn traffic.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=62–70}}
[[File:Thames tunnel shield.png|300px|right|thumb|A diagram of the [[tunnelling shield]] used to construct the Thames Tunnel]]

Work began in February 1825, by sinking a {{convert|50|ft|m|-diameter|adj=mid}} vertical shaft on the [[Rotherhithe]] bank. This was done by constructing a 50-foot-diameter metal ring, upon which a circular brick tower was built. As the tower rose in height, its weight forced the ring into the ground. At the same time, workmen excavated the earth in the centre of the ring. This vertical shaft was completed in November 1825, and the tunnelling shield, which had been manufactured at [[Lambeth]] by [[Henry Maudslay]]'s company, was then assembled at the bottom. Maudslay also supplied the steam powered pumps for the project.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=62–70}}

The shield was rectangular in cross section, and consisted of twelve frames, side by side, each of which could be moved forward independently of the others. Each frame contained three compartments, one above the other, each big enough for one man to excavate the tunnel face. The whole frame accommodated 36 miners. When enough material had been removed from the tunnel face, the frame was moved forward by large jacks. As the shield moved forward, bricklayers followed, lining the walls. The tunnel required over 7.5 million bricks.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=62–70}}

=== Problems ===
Brunel was assisted in his work by his son, [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], now 18 years old. Brunel had planned the tunnel to pass no more than fourteen feet below the riverbed at its lowest point. This caused problems later. Another problem that hindered Brunel was that William Smith, the chairman of the company, thought that the tunnelling shield was an unnecessary luxury, and that the tunnel could be made more cheaply by traditional methods. He wanted Brunel replaced as Chief Engineer and constantly tried to undermine his position. The shield quickly proved its worth. During the tunnelling both Brunel and his assistant engineer suffered ill health and for a while Isambard had to bear the whole burden of the work.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=71–80}}

There were several instances of flooding at the tunnel face due to its nearness to the bed of the river. In May 1827 it was necessary to plug an enormous hole that appeared on the riverbed. The resources of the Thames Tunnel Company were consumed, and despite efforts to raise more money, the tunnel was sealed up in August 1828. Brunel resigned from his position, frustrated by the continued opposition from the chairman. He undertook various civil engineering projects, including helping his son, Isambard, with his design of the [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]].{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=71–80}}

In March 1832 William Smith was deposed as chairman of the Thames Tunnel Company. He had been a thorn in Brunel's side throughout the project. In 1834 the government agreed a loan of £246,000 to the Thames Tunnel Company. The old 80-ton tunnelling shield was removed and replaced by a new improved 140-ton shield consisting of 9,000 parts that had to be fitted together underground. Tunnelling was resumed but there were still instances of flooding in which the pumps were overwhelmed. Miners were affected by the constant influx of polluted water, and many fell ill. As the tunnel approached the Wapping shore, work began on sinking a vertical shaft similar to the Rotherhithe one. This began in 1840 and took thirteen months to complete.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=87-96}}

On 24 March 1841 Brunel was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by the young [[Queen Victoria]]. This was at the suggestion of [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]] who had shown keen interest in the progress of the tunnel.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=87-96}}{{verification needed|date=April 2025}} The tunnel opened on the Wapping side of the river on 1 August 1842. On 7 November 1842 Brunel suffered a stroke that paralysed his right side for a time. The Thames Tunnel officially opened on 25 March 1843. Brunel, despite ill health, took part in the opening ceremony. Within 15 weeks of opening, one million people visited the tunnel. On 26 July 1843 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited. Although intended for horse-drawn traffic, the tunnel remained pedestrian only.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=87-96}}

=== Later developments ===
In 1865 the East London Railway Company purchased the Thames Tunnel for £200,000 and four years later the first trains passed through it. The tunnel became part of the [[London Underground]] system, and remains in use today, as part of the [[East London Line]] of [[London Overground]].{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=97-100}}

The engine house in Rotherhithe was taken over by a charitable trust in 1975 and transformed into the [[Brunel Museum]] in 2006.

== Subsequent life ==
[[File:Brunel grave Kensal Green.jpg|thumb|Brunel family grave in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]]]]
After the completion of the Thames Tunnel, his greatest achievement, Brunel was in poor health. He never again accepted major commissions, although he did help his son, Isambard, on various projects. He was proud of his son's achievements, and was present at the launch of the [[SS Great Britain|SS ''Great Britain'']] in [[Bristol]] on 19 July 1843. In 1845 Brunel suffered another, more severe stroke and was almost totally paralysed on his right side. On 12 December 1849, Brunel died at the age of 80, and his remains were interred in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]] in London. His wife, Sophia, was subsequently interred in the same plot, followed by their son, Isambard, just 10 years later.{{sfnp|Bagust|2006|pp=97-100}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Refbegin}}
{{Refend}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2|indent=y}}
* {{cite book |author=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |title=Book of Members, 1780–present |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |access-date=7 November 2017}}
* {{cite book |last=Bagust |first=Harold |date=2006 |title=The Greater Genius? A biography of Marc Isambard Brunel |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |location=Hersham |isbn=0-7110-3175-4 |oclc=255313889}}
* {{cite letter
| first = Sir Marc Isambard |last=Brunel
| recipient = Louis Antoine Breguet
| subject = Concerning Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Breguet, Breguet's friendship and instruction, entry to l'Ecole Polytechnique, Franceur, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and holidays, appreciation of the Breguets.
| language = fr
| date = 19 February 1822
| url = http://oac.lib.bris.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=its-calmdb-p.cse.bris.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%27DM1277%2F4%27%29
| access-date = 7 November 2017
| publisher = University of Bristol Library Special Collections
| id = DM1277/4
}}
* {{cite book |first=Keith Reginald |last=Gilbert |date=1965 |title=The Portsmouth Block-Making Machinery: A Pioneering Enterprise in Mass Production |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/portsmputh-blockmaking-machinery}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kentley |first1=Eric |last2=Hulse |first2=Robert |last3=Elton |first3=Julia |title=The Brunels' Tunnel |year=2006 |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers |isbn=0-9504361-2-7}}
* {{cite book |last = Hyman |first = Anthony |author-link=R. Anthony Hyman|title=Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer| year = 1982 |location = Princeton, NJ | publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn = 0691083037 |pages = 143f | url = https://archive.org/details/charlesbabbagepi0000hyma/page/142 | access-date = 22 April 2025 | url-access = registration | quote = Brunel was a [French] royalist and after service on a corvette escaped to the United States. There he worked for six years as architect and engineer, taking American citizenship. Brunel came to England seeking a contract to design block-making machinery for the Portsmouth naval dockyard... [p. 144]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rolt |first=L. T. C. |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel |date=1957 |publisher=Longman Group}}{{full|date=April 2025}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Waterston |first1=C D |last2=Shearer |first2=A Macmillan |title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002 |date=July 2006 |publisher=[[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] |volume=Part I, A-J |isbn=0-902-198-84-X |url=http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf |access-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004113545/http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2006 |df=dmy-all}}
{{refend}}

=== Further reading ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
| last = Coad
| first = Jonathan
| title = The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution
| year = 2005
| publisher = [[English Heritage]]
| isbn = 1-873592-87-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Roe
| first = Joseph Wickham
| title = English and American Tool Builders
| publisher = [[Yale University Press]]
| year = 1916
| location = New Haven, Connecticut
| url = https://archive.org/details/englishandameri01roegoog
| lccn = 16011753
}}  Reprinted by [[McGraw-Hill]], New York and London, 1926 ({{LCCN|27024075}}); and by Lindsay Publications, Inc., Bradley, Illinois, ({{ISBN| 978-0-917914-73-7}}).
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Marc Isambart Brunel}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120310204916/http://ancientplaces.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21:brunel&catid=1:season-1&Itemid=2&lang=en Ancient Places TV: HD Video of Brunel (father and son) and the SS Great Britain]
*[http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/brunel-institute The Brunel Institute] – Collaborative venture between the SS Great Britain Trust and the University of Bristol. Housed alongside the {{SS|Great Britain}} at Bristol it includes the National Brunel Collection.
*[http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk The Brunel Museum] – Based in Rotherhithe, London the museum is housed in the building that contained the pumps to keep the Thames Tunnel dry.
{{Brunel}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunel, Marc Isambard}}
[[Category:1769 births]]
[[Category:1849 deaths]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain]]
[[Category:French civil engineers]]
[[Category:English civil engineers]]
[[Category:British mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:British steam engine engineers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Machine tool builders]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:People associated with transport in London]]
[[Category:English prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:English theatre architects]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:French mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:People imprisoned for debt]]
[[Category:19th-century British engineers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Family of Isambard Kingdom Brunel]]
[[Category:People from Eure]]
[[Category:People of the Industrial Revolution]]
[[Category:Architects awarded knighthoods]]
[[Category:French emigrants to the United States]]