Person    | Male  Born 9/4/1806  Died 15/9/1859

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Civil engineer. Born Portsea, Hampshire. Constructions include: Great Western Railway and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Died at home, 18 Duke Street (see below). A very popular Brit, as illustrated in the terrific animated short film from 1975 by Bob Godfrey: "Great (Isambard Kingdom Brunel)". Good post at London Historians.

September 2021: a 1982 Bristol statue by John Doubleday was moved to (Brunel's) Temple Meads station, bookending with the statue at Paddington.

March 2022: Vic Keegan’s Lost London 222: Brunel In Duke Street reported on the house where Brunel lived and worked for many years and where he died: 18 (plus, from 1848, 17) Duke Street. This has now been built over by The Treasury but these two houses were at the south-east corner of what is now the junction of King Charles Street and Horse Guards Road.

We cannot get to the bottom of his name "Isambard". He shared it with his father, also an engineer, and it does not appear to be a nickname in either case, but it is an early Germanic name meaning (depending on source) 'glittering iron', 'iron giant' or 'man of iron' - an outstanding case of nominative determinism. Other good examples being the poet Wordsworth and the architect Rem Koolhaus. At Normansfield Asylum we tell of a neurologist similarly blessed. And we read that Unity Mitford's gynaecologist was pleasingly named Dr Becket Overy. While in the health field, what about Sir Henry Wellcome? And De Gaulle - he lived up to his name in a big way. And did the company Booker, McConnell Ltd choose to sponsor a literature prize because of their name? And let's not mention Thomas Crapper. But then there's the woodcarver Michael Painter, who escaped his fate, unlike the stone mason Nicholas Stone, or the architect William Chambers. The most London example we have found is Thomas Faryner. He's unlikely ever to get a page on London Remembers, but the French architect Jacques-François Desmaisons takes some beating, unless it was a nickname and we can't find any suggestion that it was.

Sorry to go on, but this concept can even pass through geographic features to a whole species. The early hominids, the Neanderthals, are named after the valley in which the first identified specimen was found. In the early 19th century the valley was named  in honour of Joachim Neander, a German Christian theologian and hymn writer, who would hold gatherings and services there. Neander's grandfather had changed the family name to Neander from the original Neumann - 'new man'. The Neanderthals join the ND club.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Commemorated ati

Brunel - E14

This text is ambiguous about where the photo was taken: at this site or at th...

Read More

Brunel statue - Paddington

This belongs to the select group of seated London statues - see Peabody. The...

Read More

Brunel statue - WC2

{On the plinth:} Isambard Kingdom Brunel, civil engineer, born 1806, died 1859.

Read More

Isambard Kingdom Brunel - SE16

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 1806 - 1859, great Victorian engineer, his first pro...

Read More

Show all 10

Other Subjects

Sir John Rennie

Sir John Rennie

Civil engineer. Born 27 Stamford Street.  In London, worked on Waterloo, Southwark and London Bridges. President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, 1845-8. Died at Bengeo, near Hertford. Easy to...

Person, Engineering

5 memorials
Coalbrookdale Company

Coalbrookdale Company

An iron foundry set up by Abraham Darby in Shropshire. Can you guess what the Coalbrookdale war memorial is made of?

Group, Engineering

5 memorials
William Luke Duffy

William Luke Duffy

A Writer/Chief Engineer's Clerk on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website. He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park...

Person, Engineering, Tragedy, Ireland

1 memorial
Sir Wiliam Fairbairn

Sir Wiliam Fairbairn

Born Kelso. Structural engineer. Worked in shipbuilding and boiler design. Died at a relative's house at Moor Park, Farnham, Surrey.

Person, Engineering, Scotland

1 memorial
Stratford Works

Stratford Works

The locomotive building works of the Great Eastern Railway.The original shops were built by the railway 'King', George Hudson. In addition to the engineering facilities, Hudson provided accommodati...

Building, Engineering, Transport

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Mark Deverell-Stone

Mark Deverell-Stone

Died before March 1978.  Son of Deverell-Stone.

Person, Friend / family

1 memorial
John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford

John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford

Born in Essex.  Caught supporting the wrong side when Edward IV assumed the throne, he was arrested and convicted of high treason which led to the loss of his head at Tower Hill.

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
M. G. Yonge

M. G. Yonge

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
L\Cpl. Harry Sidney Cockcroft

L\Cpl. Harry Sidney Cockcroft

Military Foot Police

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Members of the Rifle Brigade lost in WW1

Members of the Rifle Brigade lost in WW1

11,575 officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and riflemen lost in WW1.

Group

1 memorial