Stephenson and Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Robert Stephenson were great rivals during their lifetime, often competing with each other for the same jobs. Today we might call them ‘frenemies’ as they shared so much in common. The pair met for the final time on Christmas Day 1858. Below Peter Darley of the Camden Railway Heritage Trust reflects …
Brunel Museum awarded £62,046 for Sophia’s Story programme to support young women in engineering
The project, ‘Sophia’s story’ takes its inspiration from Sophia Brunel Marc’s daughter and sister to Isambard, walking in her father’s tunnel. This is the only representation of Sophia in the Museum in its current form. Yet, she was a promising engineer in her own right, once described as “Brunel in petticoats”, had she not been …
Brunel Museum to receive £62,046 for Sophia’s Story programme to support young women in engineering
Brunel Museum among 8 recipients of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, The project will help to develop engagement with young women and girls both within and outside of school settings using a collection of engineering drawings. The project, ‘Sophia’s story’ takes its inspiration from Sophia Brunel Marc’s daughter and sister to Isambard, walking in …
Help showcase the Art of Engineering at the Brunel Museum!
We need your help to raise £18, 500 to bring these incredible illustrations out of storage and display them at the Brunel Museum. Buried in a family album for almost two hundred years, these drawings have changed the shape of our cities and the lives of city dwellers. Yet they have never been on display …
The mother of all engineers
Dspite being the reason for the Brunel’s unusual middle name, the contribution of his mother, Sophia Kingdom is often overlooked. Changed that today in our fantastic blog. Let our Finance Manager Sarah Kuklewicz put that right: Early Life Sophia Kingdom was the 16th child of William Kingdom and Joan Spry. William was a Plymouth …
Sophia Macnamara Hawes (nee Brunel) #OTDH
During #WomensHistoryMonth we’re sharing the stories of women who made engineering history: from the lesser known Brunel women, trailblazing female engineers from the past or the women making history today. Today’s post is from our volunteer Gill Howard and is about Marc’s first child, Sophia Brunel Sophia Macnamara Brunel (b. 30 April 1802, d. 17th …
Marc Brunel and the epidemic of 1793
As we come to the end of a second year of a global pandemic, it is interesting to look back at older epidemics and pandemics to see what elements of culture have been shaped by the effects of ravaging diseases. Sometimes the effects are direct and easily identifiable, such as the ending of serfdom in …
Womens History Month: Who was Lady Sophia Brunel?
March is #WomensHistoryMonth and we’re sharing the stories of women who made engineering history: from the lesser known Brunel women, trailblazing female engineers from the past or the women making history today with their feats of engineering. Starting at the EndSo, I’m going to start at the end, with the Brunel family gravestone, which you …
History Storytime – Isambard Kingdom Brunel
We are delighted to have worked with History Storytime to help make a history podcast for children on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Listen to it here: Sophie (age 7) & Ellie (age 5) team up with the Brunel Museum to tell the story of the incredible engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel helped build the modern world. Sophie …