Marc Isambard Brunel Biography and Timeline

Arrival

Brunel lands at Falmouth and travels to London to pursue his engineering proposals.

Role range: 1769-1849

Marriage

Brunel marries Sophia Kingdom after the couple are reunited in London.

Role range: 1769-1849

Henry Maudslay

Brunel works with Henry Maudslay to produce models and machinery for the manufacture of ships' pulley blocks.

Role range: 1769-1849

Block-making Patent

Brunel obtains a patent covering machinery for manufacturing ships' pulley blocks.

Role range: 1769-1849

Portsmouth Block Mills

Samuel Bentham recommends installation of Brunel's block-making machinery at Portsmouth Dockyard.

Role range: 1769-1849

Portsmouth Block Mills

The first series of Brunel's machines is installed to manufacture medium-sized pulley blocks.

Role range: 1769-1849

Portsmouth Block Mills

A second series of Brunel's machines is installed to manufacture smaller pulley blocks.

Role range: 1769-1849

Portsmouth Block Mills

A third series of machines for large pulley blocks completes the main block-making installation.

Role range: 1769-1849

Birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Brunel's son Isambard Kingdom Brunel is born and later becomes a leading civil and mechanical engineer.

Role range: 1769-1849

Portsmouth Block Mills

The block-making plant is judged capable of meeting the Royal Navy's full requirement for pulley blocks.

Role range: 1769-1849

Mass Production

The Portsmouth Block Mills produce about one hundred and thirty thousand pulley blocks using Brunel's mechanised system.

Role range: 1769-1849

Admiralty Payment

The Admiralty agrees a substantial payment to Brunel for the savings created by his block-making machinery.

Role range: 1769-1849

Steam Sawmill

Brunel recommends installing a steam-powered sawmill at Chatham Dockyard to replace manual saw-pit labour.

Role range: 1769-1849

Battersea Timber Works Established

Marc Brunel developed industrial woodworking operations at Battersea using machinery intended to reduce the labour needed for timber preparation.

Battersea Sawmill

Brunel operates a mechanised sawmill at Battersea designed to cut timber and manufacture veneers.

Role range: 1769-1849

Battersea Mechanised Sawmill Operates

Brunel operated powered saws at Battersea to produce sawn timber more efficiently than traditional hand methods.

Battersea Veneer Cutting Developed

The Battersea works processed thin veneers as part of Brunel's programme of mechanising woodworking.

Timber Processing Machinery Refined

Brunel refined powered woodworking processes as his Battersea sawmill attempted to serve commercial customers.

Battersea Sawmill

Brunel's mechanised sawmill is destroyed by fire, contributing to his later financial difficulties.

Role range: 1769-1849

River Neva Tunnel

Brunel proposes a tunnel beneath the River Neva at Saint Petersburg and continues developing protected tunnelling methods.

Role range: 1769-1849

Royal Society

Brunel is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his engineering achievements.

Role range: 1769-1849

Battersea Fire Destroys Machinery

A serious fire devastated the mechanised sawmill and placed Brunel under additional financial pressure.

Battersea Factory Reconstruction Planned

Brunel pursued the rebuilding of the machinery and industrial premises damaged by fire.

Battersea Sawmill

The Battersea sawmill is rebuilt and Brunel resumes work on mechanised timber processing.

Role range: 1769-1849

Battersea Rebuilt Sawmill Resumes

Timber processing resumed at Battersea after restoration of the mechanised works.

Brunel Restores Industrial Veneer Production

The restored Battersea works again used machinery to prepare timber and decorative veneers.

Battersea Industrial Business Faces Difficulties

Despite technical innovation Brunel's woodworking enterprise continued to face serious commercial and financial problems.

Tunnelling Shield

Brunel patents a tunnelling shield that allows miners to excavate in protected compartments while brickwork is built behind them.

Role range: 1769-1849

Battersea Engineering Experience Shapes Career

Brunel's mechanised timber work at Battersea formed part of his broader career designing labour saving industrial equipment.

Debt

Financial losses and unpaid obligations lead to Brunel's imprisonment for debt in the King's Bench Prison.

Role range: 1769-1849

Release

The government grants money to clear Brunel's debts after concern that he may leave Britain to work in Russia.

Role range: 1769-1849

Thames Tunnel

Brunel prepares a plan for a tunnel between Rotherhithe and Wapping using his patented tunnelling shield.

Role range: 1769-1849

Thames Tunnel Company

The proposed Thames Tunnel Company is announced after Brunel presents his scheme to supporters and investors.

Role range: 1769-1849

Thames Tunnel Company

Parliament incorporates the Thames Tunnel Company and authorises construction of the river crossing.

Role range: 1769-1849

Thames Tunnel

Construction begins ceremonially on Brunel's tunnel beneath the River Thames.

Role range: 1769-1849

Rotherhithe Shaft

The sinking shaft is completed and Brunel's tunnelling shield is assembled beneath the Rotherhithe site.

Role range: 1769-1849

Tunnel Flood

The River Thames breaks into the workings and Brunel directs efforts to save the tunnel and repair the breach.

Role range: 1769-1849

Tunnel Flood

A major flood kills six workers, seriously injures Isambard Kingdom Brunel and forces suspension of the tunnel works.

Role range: 1769-1849

Government Loan

A government loan provides the Thames Tunnel Company with funds needed to resume construction.

Role range: 1769-1849

Thames Tunnel

A larger improved tunnelling shield is assembled and excavation beneath the Thames resumes.

Role range: 1769-1849