diary - University of Bristol

THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF I.K. BRUNEL
A digital facsimile
With transcription, introductory note and annotations
by
R. Angus Buchanan
Emeritus Professor in the History of Technology
at the University of Bath
2011
i

THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF I.K. BRUNEL
[University of Bristol Library, Special Collections, DM 1306/II.1. Page numbers of
the manuscript and editorial additions are given in square brackets]
ii

THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF I.K. BRUNEL
Brunel began writing this Personal Journal in October 1827. He was twenty-one, and
was already working as assistant engineer to his father on the Thames Tunnel, based
at the head of the shaft in Rotherhithe from which the tunnelling shield patented by
Marc Brunel was burrowing its way northwards under the river. The young Brunel
had been trained by his father to keep a fairly formal diary, which he managed to do
episodically during the years in which he was working on the Tunnel. But he felt the
need also for some more personal form of self-expression by which he could record
his most intimate thoughts and feelings. So he acquired a small leather-bound
notebook sealed with a clasp and key, and began to confide to it a series of reflections
intended for no eyes except his own. Writing in ink, on one side of each page only, he
filled 35 pages and then, on 6 th April 1829, he stopped.
At this point he appears to have had some sort of apprehension of early death, and
lightened his gloom by penning a dedicatory letter to his friend Benjamin Hawes,
leaving the Journal to his friend in the event of his death. He added a ‗codicil‘ to this
letter three years later, while he was assisting Hawes in the parliamentary election
campaign of 1832. But so far as we know, Hawes never received this legacy, because
the document survived with other papers in the family, to be deposited eventually in
what is now the Special Collection of Brunel material in the University of Bristol
Library. It has been used by biographers of Brunel, who have found it to be a
revealing and sometimes puzzling source of information about the mind of their
subject. Until now, however, it has not been available in a form in which it is both
easy to read and possible to understand most, if not quite all, of the sentiments
expressed therein.
The entries in the Journal occur in four episodes, of unequal length and
significance. The First covers the period from October to December 1827 [1-14] with
entries on 11 October, 13 October, 4 November, 5 November, 21 November and 29
December. The mood at this time was up-beat and dominated by the work for which
Brunel was responsible on the Thames Tunnel, but it was lightened by fanciful
depictions of prospects - his ‗castles in the air‘ - including his relations with the Fair
Sex. The Second episode is in more sombre mood, covering the period from April to
August 1828 [15-34] with entries on 22 April, 6-7 May, 8 June, 13 June, and 17
August. The first of these, on 22 April, is a long reflection on the dramatic incidents
of 12 January, when he almost lost his life in an inundation of the Tunnel. At the time
of writing he was still recuperating in bed from the after-effects of this accident, and
he remained in bed for the next entry on 6-7 May. He took the opportunity to outline
what was in effect a rule of life, stipulating a desirable allocation of his time. In the
entries for 8 and 13 June he was concerned mainly with his matrimonial prospects,
but on 17 August he returned to the deplorable state of affairs in the Tunnel business,
which had virtually come to a standstill. The Third episode was an entry on 6 April
1829 [35], in which he briefly noted the lack of progress in both his business and
personal interests. Finally, the Fourth episode was marked two days later, on 8 April
1829, the eve of Brunel's twenty-third birthday, by the addition of the letter scribbled
in the opening flyleaves of the notebook to Benjamin Hawes. [i-iv] This was
completed by the ‗codicil‘ of 2 August 1832, after which there is no record of Brunel
ever having looked at the notebook again. It can be surmised that he made subsequent
efforts to keep a personal record of this type, but if he was successful in doing so there
is no record of anything having survived. The period from 1832 to his death in 1859
iii

was, moreover, one of virtually continuous pressure from enormous preoccupations of
business, so it was not conducive to the sort of reflectiveness that is essential for
sustained journal writing.
Even though the Personal Journal covers such a small fragment of the early career
of I.K. Brunel, it contains some wonderful insights into the mind of its author, both as
a professional man and as a human being. We are not dealing with juvenilia here:
despite his youth, Brunel had already travelled extensively and was currently carrying
tremendous professional responsibilities in place of his ageing father. His reflections,
even when they are occasionally immature and fanciful, are informed by a powerful
creative imagination and a disciplined dedication to his chosen career. His
professional commitment, indeed, is remarkable in such a young man, and testifies to
the diligence with which Marc Brunel had attended to his son‘s training. The young
engineer was already so committed to his career that he was prepared to conclude that
‗my profession is after all my only fit wife‘. [28] The enthusiasm with which he
equipped himself with the best tools [13-14], collected useful information [21], and
ranged over possible engineering projects [24, 30, etc] are all indicative of singleminded
devotion to the profession. There is no talk yet of railways, or even of
building ships, but he thinks of bridges [24] and lighthouses [30], where other
engineers were already making great reputations for themselves, and allows his mind
to conjure up all sorts of grandiose imperial projects – ‗in fact take Algiers or
something in that style‘ [4] - in which he could use his engineering expertise.
Considering the still largely inchoate nature of the engineering profession in Britain at
this time, it is quite astonishing to find so clear a resolve in the mind and aspirations
of such a young recruit.
As far as his personal life was concerned, the Personal Journal is illuminating
about Brunel. For one thing, it shows his strangely obsessive secrecy. [i] One expects
a diary to be a personal document and not open to the eyes of everybody, but the
anxiety with which the young Brunel preserved the privacy of this particular
document is curious. Then there is the charming candour with which he catches his
own pride and vanity, as when he finds himself ‗trying to look big on my little pony‘
[3] and regretting his lack of a horse [18]; and deploring his inability to purchase
tools, so that he acknowledges the need to ‗attendons un peu‘. [14] Most dramatically,
perhaps, we have Brunel's musings on possible marriage partners, from which it is
clear that his thoughts ranged widely. The names of several young ladies, hidden
behind initials, have not yet been identified, but one of them, Ellen Hulme, emerges as
his first love – ‗the oldest and most constant‘[11] – whose affections had reigned for
‗nearly seven years‘, which takes them back to 1820, when Brunel would have been
fourteen.
Ellen came from a Manchester family, so that it seems likely that the young Brunel
would have met her in the course of a visit or other business of his father, but it has
not been possible to establish any details with certainty. What we do know is that
Brunel broke off any tentative ‗engagement‘ in 1829 – ‗I have had long
correspondence with Ellen which I think I have managed well‘. [35] But she had
shown herself a lively young lady, capable of quizzing Brunel – ‗A shocking habit
that of quizzing it at last prevents a person from thinking seriously‘ [32] - and we
know that Brunel retained a soft spot in his affections for her because he went to some
trouble to arrange an annuity for her in the last year of his life. 1 The real sticking point
for him, however, had been that he could not afford to marry in 1827-28, and he did
1 See Angus Buchanan, Brunel: The Life and Times of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (2002), p. 193.
iv

not actually undertake such a commitment until eight years later, by which time he
was well established and on the way to making a fortune.
Finally, the Journal demonstrates a close bond between Brunel and his brother-inlaw,
Benjamin Hawes, although it is not possible to determine the extent to which the
surprisingly warm feelings expressed by Brunel in his dedicatory letter were
reciprocated. [i-iv] We know that Brunel was close to his elder sister, Sophia, who
had married Hawes in 1820 and that he spent a considerable amount of time at the
Hawes‘ home, Barge House in Lambeth. [15] He also turned out to support Hawes in
be successful election campaign he ran in 1832 for the new parliamentary
constituency of Lambeth [iv] and the families of the two men remained on friendly
terms for the rest of their lives. But the strength of the feelings expressed by Brunel in
his dedicatory letter, where he expresses passions which are ‗staunch and true and
unchangeable‘ [ii] is puzzling. So is the confession of faults – ‗what is worse they
decidedly increase‘ [iv] - and the expression of misery – ‗I‘m unhappy - exceedingly
so‘ [iv] - with its suggestion that Brunel did suffer from moods of deep introspection
and near despair, which he describes as feeling ‗blue‘. Possibly, like Winston
Churchill and his ‗black dog‘ moods, Brunel was prone to these moments of
dejection. Happily for his reputation, however, he seems to have left them behind
once the pressure of work from his colossal professional commitments took his mind
off such personal considerations.
The text of the Personal Journal is not easily read in its original form. Even
familiarity with the flowing handwriting of Brunel does not mean that every word is
immediately decipherable, and there are a few phrases that do not submit even to
prolonged investigation. The substance, moreover, gives the impression of having
been written in a sort of stream of consciousness, as the author relaxed from his
professional commitments and allowed his thoughts and reflections to pour out onto
the page without much regard to the disciplines of punctuation, syntax, and spelling.
Idiosyncrasies of spelling such as Brunel‘s habit of writing ‗always‘ with double ‗l‘
have been preserved in this version, but some attempt has been made to tidy up the
punctuation in order to make clear the author's intended meaning. The addition of
footnotes provides explanations where necessary of the subject discussed by the
author, but these are not intended to be intrusive. The page format of the Journal has
been preserved with the page number being given in square brackets. It is hoped that,
by presenting the text in a tidy and annotated form, the quality of Brunel‘s insights
into his own activities and motivations can be most clearly revealed.
RAB
June 2006
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Personal Journal of I.K. Brunel is part of the University of Bristol Brunel
Collection a rich archive held at the Brunel Institute, a collaboration of the ss Great
Britain Trust and the University of Bristol. I would like to record my gratitude to the
University Librarians and Archivists who, over many years, have generously made
this Collection available to me. In particular, the present Archivist, Michael
Richardson, has given me substantial help in wrestling with the difficulties of
Brunel‘s handwriting. He has also suggested several valuable improvements in the
transcription, and has made a satisfactory interpretation of the few words of
experimental shorthand included in the text. I thank him warmly for his assistance. In
the last resort, however, I take full responsibility myself for the form of the document
presented here.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE
While it is arguable that the Personal Journal is the single most illuminating
document in the Brunel Collection, it is only a fragment of a large archive which
includes Diaries, Letter Books, Sketchbooks and many other papers. A brief guide to
this Collection and a rapidly augmenting online catalogue are available from the
University of Bristol Library website and a precis of the Letter Books can also be
consulted in the Special Collections Room and at the Brunel Institute. The main items
are listed in the Bibliography of my recent book: see Angus Buchanan, Brunel: The
Life and Times of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Hambledon & London, 2002), pp. 271-
280. This Bibliography also contains a list of the most important printed works on
Brunel. But worthy of special mention, in relation to the Personal Journal, is
Isambard Brunel‘s biography of his father, The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
Civil Engineer (first published 1870; reissued, David & Charles, Newton Abbot,
1970); and Celia Brunel Noble‘s study of her grandfather and great-grandfather, The
Brunels, Father and Son (1938). Also well worth consulting is L.T.C. Rolt, Isambard
Kingdom Brunel (Longmans, London, 1957; Penguin editions 1970 and 1989). There
are two works on Marc Brunel which are relevant to the Personal Journal: Richard
Beamish, Memoir of the Life of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1862), and Paul Clements,
Marc Isambard Brunel (1970).
vi

[1] October [11 October 1827, inferred from following paragraphs]
At last I have begun this my private journal even now altho‘ at the
second line I can hardly perswade myself that it is real1y private but am
puzzling myself for proper words thus destroying the very object I have
in view viz to record my feeling habits faults wishes hopes and every
thing belonging to the present moment. The pleasure I shall derive
hereafter in reading and comparing the remarks made at different time
will I promise myself be very great. I think also with good will much
utility and some good lessons may be got. To begin.
My present intentions are to put down whatever is upermost in my
mind without order or arrangement.
I have had this book 8 or 10 weeks: have had many better
opportunities, why have I not begun before? I have postponed it! I am
very prone to say tomorrow,
1

[2] and yet I am not irresolute nor do I want firmness in greater matters. I
must cure myself of this - tomorrow I will begin --------
This is Saturday night 12 1/2 o‘clock. A few hands at work below.
Williams just gone home. Sitting by my fire writing this - it‘s a great
Luxury is being alone - and comfortable. My life has been as yet pretty
full of varieties: what shall I be hereafter? At present thinking of nothing
but the tunnel: living here entirely at Rotherhithe 1 I get up every morning
at 8 a.m., see the various things concerning the works all the morning.
We dine at 3 p.m., one week boarding with me then a week at Gravatts 2
and so on. After diner [sic] I come on duty more particularly taking
charge of the works below till 2 in the morning when Gravatts [sic] gets
up and we sup together. I then go to bed on the sofa in the parlor and
[Gravatt?] comes on duty - tired already - in fact am very sleepy - about
1a.m. - will go to bed.
2

[3] October 13th
Sunday night - 10 p.m. West parlour Rotherhithe. A new broom
sweeps clean! The second night and again at it! I have been to day to Mr
Sweets 3 about agreement but did not see him.
When thinking of this journal whole volumes crowded on me - my
character my ―chateaux d‘espagne‖ &c – now I am quite without an idea.
As to my character - N.B. I am a phrenologist. My self conceit and love
of glory or rather approbation vie with each other which shall govern me.
The latter is so strong that even of a dark night riding home when I pass
some unknown person who perhaps does not even look at me I catch
myself trying to look big on my little pony. The former upon reflection
does not seem too strong to counteract the latter. I often do the most silly
useless things to appear to advantage before or attract the attention of
those I shall never again see or whom I care nothing about. The former
renders
3

[4] renders me domineering intolerant nay even quarrelsome with those
who do not flatter me in this case; both combine to make me unpleasant
at home. Q: shall I make a good husband. Ansr: doubtfull. My ambition
or whatever it may be called (it is not the mere wish to be rich) is rather
extensive: but still I am not afraid that I shall be unhappy if I do not reach
the rank of hero and Commander in Chief of his Majesty‘s forces - in the
steam (gas) boat department. This is rather a favorite castle in the air of
mine. Make the gaz engine 4 answer fit out some vessells (of course a war)
take some prizes nay some island or fortified town get employed by
government, construct and command a fine fleet of them and fight - fight:
in fact take Algiers or something in that style.
Build a splendid Manufactory for gaz engines a yard for building the
boats for Do. &c. At last be rich have a house built
4

[5] of which I have even made the drawings &c. Be the first Engineer and
an example for future ones.
I wish I had kept this journal while we were at work on the river. What
a dream it now appears to me. Going down in the diving Bell finding and
examining the hole standing on the corner of No 12! 5 The novelty of the
thing, the excitement by the occasional risk attending our submarine
(aquatic) excursions the crowds of boats to witness our works all amused.
The anxious watchings of the shaft - seeing it full of water rising and
falling with the tide with the most provoking regularity - at last by dint of
claybags clay and gravel - a perceptible difference - we then began
pumping. At last reaching the crown of the arch - what sensations! The
influx nothing; less than ever, before or after. Standing on the arch - the
engine rattling away. My father more cautious
5

[6] certainly forsaw the consequences of too quick a pumping - but we
prevailed. N.B. never will I then be prevailed upon by others to do what I
think imprudent.
At last water below the arch - nearly down to the plynth. On a line [?]
under the arch for some distance. I go to an evening party at Greenwich -
rather an anxious evening. Return all right. Go down 200 ft with Sophia
Benjamin and Sarah. Go to bed am awoke by Nurse. 6 Something the
matter. Jump up dress. Run to the shaft - full!!! -------
Altho‘ to others I appear in such cases rather unconcerned and not
affected (pride) the internal anguish I felt is not to be described. I thank
God however I rather returned thanks that it was no worse than grumbled
[?]. I am an optimist I hope in deed as well as word. 11 1/2 pm. - I will lie
down on the rug a little and then go below.
6

[7] November 4 th
I have been today to London Bridge: 7 am full of my skeme [corrected,
scheme, Dec 29 th 1827] for a 300 ft arch metal joints - sketching
centering for arch. My fathers negociation with the french may yet turn
out something. What will become of me? To go to france is to lose my
connection and damp my prospects here yet to stop here at my age I
cannot expect to be employed.
a [sic] tunnel at Gravesend or Liverpool? eh? Mr Pitt was only 22
prime minister and for the first time in his life!!! I may be said to have
almost built this tunnel having been active resident Engineer. What
Castles!! -----
My gaz engine - a tunnel - tunnels - what a field - yet I may miss it.
3 a.m. Nov 5 th Am sitting up writing my journal &c, &c. Kemble drunk -
Millwrights gone home just written to Mr Wilks to wait till Dir can come 8
7

[8] November 5 th 3 a.m. 1827.
Am just recovered from a serious bruize - fell into the river water well
and hurt my knee. Intend giving a dinner next Saturday in
commemoration of or as a thanksgiving for our having completing 20 ft
since the grand water battle - which we shall have done please God at that
day.
I must make some little indian ink sketches of our boat excursions to
the frames the low dark gloomy cold arch. 9 The heap of earth almost up
to the crown, hiding the frames and rendering it quite uncertain what state
they were in and what might happen. The hollow rushing of water, the
total darkness of all around rendered distinct by the glimering light of a
candle or two carried by ourselves. Crawling along the bank of earth - a
dark recess at the end - quite dark - water rushing from it in such
quantities as to render it uncertain
8

[9] uncertain whether the ground was secure. At last reaching the frames -
choked up to the middle rail of top box - frames evidently leaning back
and sideways considerably - staves in curious directions bags and chisel
rods protruding in all directions. Reaching No 12 - the bags apparently
without support and swelling into the frame threatened every minute to
close in No [sic] side brickwork. All bags - a cavern huge misshapen with
water - a cataract in fact coming from it.
Candles going out.
9

[10] Wednesday evening November 21 st 1827.
Returned from Town. Put on my fighting dress having given some
directions at Smiths shop 10 screwing gauge for new longjacks [?] &c &c
having in fact smelt the cold frosty night air. On entering my parlour a
nice blazing fire my table before it papers books &c nicely arranged
thereon. The whole inspired such a feeling of comfort that I could not
resist sitting down and imparting my sensations to this book as to a
friend.
As long as health continues, one‘s prospects tolerable, and present
efforts whatever they may be tolerably successful, then indeed a
bachelor‘s life is luxurious. Fond as I am of society ―selfish comfort‖ is
delightful. I have always felt so. My chateaux d‘espagne have mostly
been founded on this feeling. What independance! For one who‘s
ambition is to distinguish himself in the eyes of the public such a freedom
is almost indispensable.
10

[11] But on the other hand in sickness or disappointment how delightfull
to have a companion whose sympathy one is sure of possessing her
dependance on you gives her the power to support you by consolation and
however delightfull may be freedom and independance still we find that
certain restraints are necessary for the enjoyment of pleasure. I have
always wished and intended to be married but have been very doubtfull
on the subject of - children - it is a question whether they are the sources
of most pleasure or pain. I have had as I suppose most young men have
had numerous attachments. If they deserve the name each in its turn has
appeared to me the true one. E H—e 11 is the oldest and most constant now
however gone by. During her reign (nearly 7 years!!!) several inferior
ones caught my attention.
11

[12] I need hardly remind myself of Mlles D. C— O. S— 12 and
numerous others.
With E H—e it was mutual and I trust the present feeling is also mutual
in this case the sofa scenes &c must appear now to her as to me rather
ridiculous. She was a nice Girl and had she improved as a girl of her age
ought to have done
[the remaining lines of this page have been cut out]
12

[13] have served me right if I had been spill‘d in the mud. Certainly a
devilish pretty girl an excellent musician and a sweet voice. But I am
afraid those eyes dont speak a very placid temper.
Dec 29 Saturday 5 a.m. 1827.
I always feel inclined to write in this journal when I am alone. I feel so
comfortable that I wish to perpetuate a small portion of the Luxury I
enjoy. Beamish and Gravatt are both in town nothing particular going on
below. [Line of shorthand symbols with suggested meaning: ‗Filling in
with straw behind the side staves No. 1. After dinner …‘] 13 all quiet and I
at desert [?] - alone - how luxurious!! I am getting monstrous orderly
now - and have got a rage for instruments excellent ones in their kind at
least. I have now some very pretty electrum drawing tools, have ordered a
superexcellent electrum 4 inch pocket Sextant of Simms. 14
13

[14] I now only want a good level with a telescope that can see through a
brick wall and then a good 9 inch or 10 inch theodolite 3 nonii 15 - double
telescope - low and snug above deck - (only 15 or 20 degrees of elevation
& D) all these in electrum if I find it answer and nothing superior is
invented the first however will cost £25 to £30 and the second £70 to £80
say £100 the two therefore ―attendons un peu‖
My father and mother at Lady Spencer‘s Althorp. 16 Should like to have
been there. Oxford Canal - S L Docks - 17
14

[l5] April 22 nd 1828
Here I am in bed at Bridge St. 18 I have now been laid up quite useless
for 14 weeks and upwards – ever since the 12 th January. I shan't forget
that day in a hurry. Very near finished my journey then. When the danger
is over it is rather amusing than otherwise. While it existed I can't say the
feeling was at all uncomfortable. If I was to say the contrary I should be
nearer the truth in this instance. While exertions could still be made and
hope remained of stopping the ground it was an excitement which has
always been a luxury to me. When we were obliged to run I felt nothing
particular I was only thinking of the best way of getting us on and the
probable state of the arches. When knocked down I certainly gave myself
up but I took it very much as a matter of course which I had expected the
moment we quitted the frames for I never expected we should get out.
The instant I disengagd
15

[16] myself and got breath again - all dark - I bolted into the other arch. 19
This saved me. By laying hold of the rail rope – the engine must have
stopped a minute – I stood still nearly a minute. I was anxious for poor
Ball and Collins who I felt too sure had never risen from the fall we all
had - and were as I thought crushed under the great stage - I kept calling
them by name to encourage them and make them also (if still able) come
thro' the opening. While standing there the effect was- grand - the roar of
the rushing water in a confined passage and by its velocity rushing past
the openings was grand very grand. I cannot compare it to anything -
cannon can be nothing to it. At last it came bursting thro' the opening I
was then obliged to be off. But up to that moment as far as my sensations
were concerned and distinct from the idea of the loss of 6 poor fellows
16

[17] whose death I could not then forsee except this. The sight and the
whole affair was well worth the risk and I would willingly pay my share
£50 about of the expenses for such a ―spectacle‖. Reaching the shaft I
was too much bothered with my knee and some other thumps to
remember much. If I had been kept under another minute when knocked
down I should not have suffered more and I trust I was tolerably fit to
die. 20 If therefore the occurrence itself was rather a gratification than
otherwise and the consequences in no way unpleasant I need not attempt
to avoid such. My being in bed at present tho' no doubt arising from the
effects of my straining was immediately caused by my returning too soon
to a full diet at Brighton. 21 Had I been properly warned of this I might
now have been hard at work at the Tunnel.
17

[18] But all is for the best. I have formed many plans for my future
guidance which I verily believe I shall follow and if so my time will not
have been lost. Let‘s record a few of them they will thus serve to keep me
in check as I cannot then deny them. 1 st rules as regards my health I will
(if I can) go to bed at such time as to be able to rise early for instance I
think I could always go to bed at 12 or 1 and get up at 5 or 6 this would
agree pretty well with my shift-duties and I should then get an appetite
for breakfast, which I never used to do. If then I rose early I would
breakfast at 8 and eat a substantial one. I could then when I wanted go to
town pretty early. Oh that I had a gig or horse!!
I would dine at about 4 1/2 or 3 1/2 according to circumstances have
tea at 8 1/2 and a light supper at 10 1/2 . This arrangement is peculiarly suited
to my occupations, for instance
18

[19] all Dietists seem to agree in one point viz that after a meal you
should remain quiet (not asleep however) for one two or three hours. As I
have a remarkably good digestion one or 1 1/2 hour would be sufficient.
After this period exercise is necessary. Now my duties below will be best
performed by visiting them at the end of the shift then giving directions
for the ensueing shift and going down in the middle to find fault &c &c
and again at the end as before. The middle visit should[?] alone be ever
dispensed with. The Duties above ground would require attention more
particularly before breakfast and then at any time.
By rising early I can go below to see the end of the nights shift give
directions for the next – then attend to above ground matters - &c and at 8
eat a hearty Breakfast.
19

[20] After breakfast write letters - draw - attend to any sedentary
business. If anything particular go below at 10 1/2 or so. Then attend again
to active business going below again towards 1 1/2 giving directions for the
other shift, then dine at 3, (on these regular days). After dinner write my
journal (standing) - read - &c - draw - attend to office business from
Memoranda, always having Morgan Orton &c into me. 22 N.B. this will
save me a great deal of time. If nothing particular below - continue these
amusements till tea at 8, going below again at 9 about. Shift changed &c
come into a comfortable supper at 10 1/2 . Reading and enjoying myself till
11 1/2 or 12. Go below. Come up write my journal and Memoranda and go
to bed-------
Now as I have a habit of eating quick reading at my meals will be a
pleasant and excellent
20

[21] thing but having a bad memory I must take notes. Another very good
habit I shall thus eat slower which Paris says 23 is the way not to eat too
much, and moreover enjoy my meals -------
Another thing is always to have my journal, a Memoranda book and a
general sketchbook at hand ---- (locked up tho‘) ----- N.B. In writing my
journal I will always open at once an index at the end, and also refer to
the page of my sketch book. My memoranda book to enter every thing as
it strikes me and then have a pocket one to carry with me. My sketch
book will I think be one of Hawkins' letter books. Then by drawing on
whole foolscap sheets pinn'd on a drawing board I can enter them
afterward. All calculations I will enter arranged into my - Miscellany 24 --
----
21

[22] I will have a desk which I can raise high enough to stand to. Q: how?
- memo [?] make a sketch. I will write my journal whenever I have an
opportunity. I must try and introduce order in every thing. I am decidedly
improved in that respect within the last two years. As I have a bad
memory for words or phrenologically a deficiency of language I must
make up for it by writing and sketching everything I wish to remember.
But I will also try to improve the faculty.
22

[23] May 6 th & 7 th 1828.
Here I am again - 12 1/2 a.m. – Wednesday 7th May. In bed smoking
some excellent canaster. J Hulme 25 has left me. He went to Manchester
today having spent a day in town on his way from Berlin. Poor fellow he
has had some unfortunate downs as well as others. It makes me rather
blue devilish to think of it and since I am very prone to build airy castles I
will now build a few blue ones which I am afraid are likely to prove less
airy and more real. Here are these directors damning the Tunnel as fast as
they well can. If they go on at this rate we must certainly stop, and then,
by jove we shall stop - payment – where the devil money is to come from
in that case I know not. Tawney is sneaking. 26 We must not expect much
from that quarter after a short time. What money we may get from the
Battersea concern will produce at most £300 a year - most likely not
£200!! 27 The gaz we may never realise, even if we find means
23

[24] to prosecute the experiments difficulties may arise to render the
ultimate success doubtful nay perhaps impossible. Where then will be all
my fine castles – bubles[sic] – well if it was only for myself I should not
mind it. I fear if the Tunnel stops I shall find all those flattering promises
of my friends will prove - friendly wishes -------
The young Rennies whatever their real merit will have built
London Bridge the finest bridge in Europe, and have such a connection
with governement [sic] as to defy competition. Palmer has built new
London Docks and thus without labor have [sic] established a connection
which ensures his fortune. 28 While I - shall have been engaged in the
Tunnel which failed - which was abandoned - a pretty recommendation,
all the engineers glad enough of publishing that it was my father's debut
almost in ―engineering‖. I have nothing after all
24

[25] so very transcendant as to enable me to rise by my own merit
without some such help as the Tunnel. It's a gloomy perspective and yet
bad as it is I cannot with all my efforts work myself up to be downhearted
well it's very fortunate I am so easily pleased. After all let the worst
happen - unemployed untalked of – pennyless (that‘s damned awkward) I
think I may depend upon a home at Benjamin‘s. My poor father would
hardly survive the Tunnel. My mother would follow him. I should be left
alone. Here my invention fails what would follow I cannot guess. A war
now I would go and get my throat cut and yet that would be foolish
enough – well ―vogue la galère‖ 29 very annoying but so it is. I suppose a
sort of middle path will be the most likely one. A mediocre success – an
engineer sometimes employed sometimes not – 200 or 300 a year, that
uncertain. Well I shall then
25

[26] have plenty to wish for and that always constituted my hapiness
[sic]. May I always be of the same mind and then the less I have the
happier I shall be ----
I‘ll turn misanthrope get a huge Meerschawm as big as myself and
smoke away melancholy. 30 And yet that can't be done without money and
that can't be got without working for it. Dear me what a world this is
where starvation itself is an expensive luxury. But damn all croaking. The
Tunnel must go on it shall go on. By the by why should not I get some
situation surely I have friends enough for that. Qy: get a nice snug little
berth and then a snug little wife with a little somewhat to assist in
housekeeping what an interesting situation! ---
No luxuries, none of your enjoyments of which I am tolerably
fond. Oh horrible - and all this owing to the dam‘d directors who
26

[27] can't swallow when the food is put into their mouth. Here is the
Duke of W----n 31 speaking as favorably as possible offering unasked to
take the lead in a public meeting and the devil knows what and they let it
all slip by as if the pig‘s tail was soaped. Oh for Sir E 32 here now, he‘d
give it them. But they are all asleep, Hawes and all 33 - all alike – if the
Tunnel does go on no thanks to them well then for a good 4 years yet I'm
pin‘d down and when finished by that time all the eclât will be gone, all
the gilding tarnished, and I shall find as I saw before all my fine castles –
gone. Well it‘s all for the best it may damp a little my vanity – make me a
better fellow – and who knows trumps may turn up again. I'm sure we've
no reason to complain yet whenever we've been worse off something
good has come.
27

[28] June 8 th 1828. 1 a.m.
I have not opened this book for a long time and now I open it to record
my – old attachment – à propos de ça who would have thought I should
ever have lost anything from over modesty. It appears that I really might
have had A B—w 34 , a fine girl plenty of accomplishments and £25,000
no joke. S R—s assures me of it. W H—s saw it and B—sh also. 35 Well
it‘s all for the best again. It would never have done to have married then.
Quite absurd so young and when it came to the point I should have found
too late what I now find ―qu'on retourne toujours aux premiers amours‖.
Ellen is still it seems my real love. I have written her a long letter
yesterday. Her answer shall decide if she wavers I ought to break off for I
cannot hope to be in a condition to marry her and to continue in this state
of suspense is wronging her. After all I shall most likely remain a
batchelor [sic] and that is I think best for me. My profession is after all
my only fit wife.
28

[29] Oh that I may find her faithfull and an honor [?] to me. How time
and events creep on next Wednesday is the public meeting. Shall we get
money? – To be or not to be? now [?]. If we don‘t why? And the works
suspended it can only be temporary they will be secured and opened as a
show and in the meantime we must try and get governement to begin
borings &c at Gravesend. This would after all not be so bad. Oh Ellen
Ellen if you have kept up your musick and can even only play tolerably
we might be very happy yet. And starve. It wont do. However we'll see. If
the Tunnel stops our main hopes must be on Gravesend. 36 My fathers
ideas of going abroad for a time will never do. To lose all other business,
Oxford Canal and sundries &c would alone support us and Gravesend
with what little salary I get from the Tunnel for they must have a rest
[resident] Engineer - will enable[?] to live. If I had md [married?]
29

[30] A B—w 37 I should certainly have been independant to a certain
degree tho' I should hardly have liked depending on my wife. She'd have
made a good one tho' I think. But it would spoil all my future prospects
I‘m afraid to settle so early. Oh for a lighthouse: I must find some place
where one is wanted, besides my scheme which I really think a good one,
the carrying on such a work exposed to sea storms and the devil knows
what would just have suited me. If we can get any body to go on with the
gaz machine. Oh dear how many irons and none hot! - If it was not for
B—n 38 I really should be blue dear fellow he's a good fellow and has but
one fault and that's more than I can say for any other being I know. Well I
swear I‘ll never take offence at him whatever might happen and then we
may live and die friends. Dam it Ellen how you keep creeping on me here
I am thinking of you again - Well until
30

[31] I have your answer I cannot fix my mind on the subject and therefore
it is no use thinking of you. ---
My father is gone to Towcester. 39 Gravatt in the country. Beamish
working away at the Tunnel. I still in Bridge St, working at Mathematics.
Intend going to Redriff 40 next week. Am now almost quite better as they
say. After nearly 5 months spell pretty well I think.
31

[32] June 13 th .
No answer yet from E—n - and I'm afraid when it comes it will be a
quizzing one without any decisive answer. A shocking habit that of
quizzing it at last prevents a person from thinking seriously. I'm almost
afraid of an answer however for to marry would be absurde and to remain
for years engaged would be painfull I fear that I ought not to marry unless
I find a wife with a fortune ----
A Batchelor's life's a very happy one I shall have every advantage
of introduction into the best society and a wife unless she is of that class
in her own right becomes a bar ---
As a Batchelor I may be sure of living tolerably at my ease while
with a wife I have every prospect of starving ---
If I have anything like an answer it will probably decide my state
for life ---
32

[33] Augt. 17 th 1828 Tunnel.
The last time I wrote I appeared to be thinking of nothing but my
answer from Ellen. We are now in correspondence but I do not like
putting the thing home. I am half afraid of my old attachment binding me
and yet have not the heart to break off.
The Tunnel is now blocked up at the end and all work about to
cease. A year ago I should have thought this terrible and not to be born
[sic]. Now it is come, like all other events it is only at a distance that they
appear to be dreaded. Time present seems to me allways alike to a person
who only looks at the future or the past the present situation is quite
disregarded like a traveller enjoying a beautyfull landscape or admiring a
fine view the mere spot on which he stands never enters into the picture.
If the prospect before him is more dismal than that through which he has
passed he looks
33

[34] behind him. He may thus always [find?] something to admire. Just at
the moment that the Tunnel ceases to be a resource [?] the arbitration of
the Battersea concern is likely to be terminated and thus most
opportunely supply ways and means. I have always found it so. Either we
are peculiarly favorred or else misfortune must consist more in discontent
than in reality.
The poor Hulmes are in a very unpleasant situation. 41 I wish I could go
down and see them indeed I must go soon for other reasons.
Beamish is gone to Ireland: adieu to him. We shall soon all break up. I
shall recommence our work on the Gaz. 42 I am rather anxious about the
specific heat of the liquid: now if this also should fail, down go a good
percentage of my Castles in the Air. Well can‘t help it. I wish only that I
was the only one concerned.
34

[35] 1 6/4 29 [Monday 6 April 1829]
Why the lock's allmost grown rusty so long since I have opened this
book. A new mode of dating I see too: march of Intellect.
Here I am at Rotherhithe renewing experiments on gaz --- been getting
apparatus up for the last six months!! is it possible? A fortieth of the
remainder of my life. What a life. The life of a dreamer. Am allways
building castles in the air. What time I waste. I have refrained from
several indulgences by making up my mind and then making a sort of
vow. Why should I not do the same with respect to castle building for it
may increase till it will become a sort of madness. I have had long
correspondence with Ellen which I think I have managed well. I may now
consider myself independant.
Tunnel has not advanced much since I last wrote - its interests
however are. Having with the assistance of B—n drawn up papers on all
the points – advantages &c &c &c
35

[36] 1 6/4 29
They have been laid before Ld Allthorpe by my father and W—n – Ld.
A— undertaking to manage the thing with the Duke ---
[The main document ends here, but a couple of days later Brunel wrote a
letter to his friend Benjamin Hawes which he inscribed on the
preliminary fly-leaves of the volume, with a ‘codicil’ added to it over
three years later, as follows]
36

[p. i] To Benjamin Hawes jnr 44 -
Dear Ben,
I had allways intended this book should perish with me having left
strict injunctions so to do in all my different papers – but having taken it
into my head to day to make my will I found how poor I was and how
unable I was to leave anything which could give you an idea of my
attachment to you. The greatest proof I could imagine was to leave you
this my private journal and if you could form an idea of my secretiveness
of my horror of telling to anybody that which I wish to be secret you
would be able to value this mark of my love. I conceal things from myself
and it was to get rid of the load of secrets I had to keep that I imagined
this silent true staunch friend and yet I allway have my fears of him. I
keep the key allways about me - the book itself in my strong box with
secret 1ock - but when from home
37

[p.ii] I am allways afraid. My dear Benjamin, ever since I have known
you I have esteemed you I know your faults can avoid them and now my
attachment is as strong as true as perfect as I think is possible on earth.
My passions are not warm but they are staunch and true and
unchangeable. I am addicted to excess to castle building and in the
wildest and most impossible your image is before me and you allways
share my prosperity - read this book with every allowance for the absence
of the usual gilding we put on our thoughts in conversation however
unguarded or thoughtless. There is not much in it yet but I shall add more.
I shall at the last gasp regret that I cannot be with you when you read it.
We should laugh as we have done sometimes. Don‘t be sad fancy I am
with you enjoying it and if I can come I will, so see if the
38

[p. iii] candle burns blue. Whenever I think seriously it appears to me
how ridiculously unimportant every worldly occurrence is when for an
instant compared with the future; and how painfull it would be to see how
every event passed off unheeded – time flies – our hopes gratified or
blasted all the same as on on we fly and nothing to rest a permanent idea
or hope on but our prospects in the next world.
I assure [you?] for the last two years this has struck me so forcibly that
I think I have improved a little in my morals.
Adieu my dear Fellow.
Yours in death, I Brunel
P.S. I allmost fancied that the curtain was to fall and I was to die as soon
as I had signed my name. I had worked myself up to such a pitch I
thought the devil was come it sha‘n‘t be a blue one tho'
Yours I.B.
April 8 th 1829 4am.
39

[p. iv] Codicil - 7 2/8 32 [i.e. Sunday 2 August 1832]
I always anticipated pleasure and perhaps instruction in reading over this
my journal. I am amused today in reading this letter to you. I refer to my
knowing your faults my own I do not allude to. Do not suppose therefore
that I am insensible of these. I see them in crowds: they seem to me like a
great field of weeds, with an unfortunate supply of huge thistles, towering
up over the whole, what is worse they decidedly increase. The few usefull
plants which were to be seen are fast dying away. On the other hand I see
you daily cultivating your garden: the only fault I could ever find, was
formerly a painfull sort of indication that you could easily take offence
and then you could become a hater (it's too strong a term). This I think
has gradually disappeared. Ben I have a painfull conviction that I am fast
becoming a selfish cold hearted, ambitious brute: why don't you see it and
warn me and cure me. I'm unhappy - exceedingly so. The excitement of
this election 45 came just in time to conceal it.
40

NOTES AND REFERENCES
1 Rotherhithe was the site of the shaft on the south bank of the River Thames from the
bottom of which the Thames Tunnel was excavated between 1825 and 1843 by
tunnelling shields patented by Marc Brunel. The shaft at Wapping, on the north bank,
was only prepared when the bore of the tunnel was almost complete.
2 William Gravatt, FRS (1806-1866), was employed as an assistant engineer on the
Thames Tunnel by Marc Brunel. He subsequently worked for I K Brunel on the
Bristol & Exeter Railway.
3 Mr Sweets was a solicitor who advised Marc Brunel: see Paul Clements, Marc
Isambard Brunel, p. 70.
4 The Gaz Engine had been patented by Marc Brunel in 1825. It operated on a cycle
determined by the liquefaction of carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide). Michael
Faraday had encouraged the Brunels to experiment with this device, which promised
economies over the steam engine, but it involved problems of manufacture and
operation which were eventually deemed to be insuperable.
5 A diving bell invented by Marc Brunel had been used to investigate the first serious
collapse of the Thames Tunnel in 1827, and the young Brunel had been one of those
who had risked his life in the apparatus in order to examine the damage to the roof of
the Tunnel. ‗No. 12‘ refers to the frame on the tunnelling shield, being the last of the
vertical sections, each consisting of three cells, one above the other.
6 Benjamin and Sophia Hawes visited the Tunnel several times. Sophia was the young
Brunel‘s elder sister, and she had married Benjamin Hawes in 1820. On this occasion
their daughter Sarah was with them. Nurse was one of Brunel‘s assistants on the
Tunnel.
7 The design for the new London Bridge had been prepared by John Rennie before his
death in 1821. The work of constructing it was being supervised by his sons John and
George, of whom the former was knighted in 1831 as Sir John Rennie (1794-1874) on
be completion of the bridge. I K Brunel took a close - and critical - interest in the
progress of the work.
8 Kemble and Wilks were unidentified members of the Tunnel staff while ‗Dir‘
possibly indicates the visit of a Director.
9 IKB prepared these sketches of the Tunnel work following the inundation of 1827
and used them to illustrate his Tunnel Journals, kept by him from October 1826 to
September 1829, in three folio volumes in the Bristol Collection.
10 The ‗Smith‘s shop‘ has not been identified, but it is likely to have been the Tunnel
Company‘s own smithy.
11 ‗E H‘ was Ellen Hulme of Manchester.
12 ‗D C‘ and ‗O S‘ have not been identified.
41

13 Celia Brunel Noble, in her The Brunels: Father and Son, p. 101, notes that IKB
experimented with the Gurney system of shorthand. The provisional reading has been
supplied by Michael Richardson.
14 Electrum was an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel favoured by the makers of
scientific instruments. In ancient times it had usually been an alloy of gold and silver.
15 The ‗nonius‘ was a contrivance for the graduation of mathematical instruments
named after the Portuguese inventor Nunez. It was subsequently improved by the
‗vernier‘, although the old name remained in use for some time. The abbreviation ‗D‘
in this context presumably means ‗depression‘.
16 Lord and Lady Spencer of Althorp in Northamptonshire befriended Marc Brunel
when he arrived in Britain in 1799, and their hospitality was enjoyed by the Brunels
on many occasions.
17 Marc Brunel had designed improvements for the Oxford Canal Company. ‗S L
Docks‘ probably indicates South London Docks, authorised by Act of Parliament in
1825 as An Act for Making Wet Docks, Warehouses and other Works, in and near St.
Saviour’s Dock in the Parishes of St. John Southwark, and St. Mary Magdalen
Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, to be called the South London Docks.
18 Marc Brunel and his family moved from Chelsea to this house in Bridge Street,
Blackfriars, in order to be conveniently placed for the Tunnel work. IKB was taken
there to recuperate after the inundation of January 1828.
19 Marc Brunel designed the Tunnel as two parallel roadways separated by a series of
lateral arches, and when the inundation occurred IKB was just able to make his escape
from the flood by getting through these arches into the less seriously affected
roadway.
20 IKB came very close to death on this occasion: not only did he nearly get trapped
under the collapsed staging behind the tunnelling shield, like two of his companions,
but he then almost drowned as he was carried back along the Tunnel by the flood, and
then up the shaft from which he was pulled by his staff.
21 IKB was sent to Brighton to recuperate, but on his own admission he enjoyed the
local amenities and his family were obliged to bring him home in order to ensure that
he received proper rest and treatment.
22 The names of Morgan and Orton occur in the Thames Tunnel journals and reports
of IKB and Marc Brunel in contexts suggesting some seniority and talent. One Henry
Feltham Orton published an official account of the Tunnel in 1827 and may have been
a relation of the Orton referred to here, if not the man himself.
23 Presumably a reference to J.A. Paris, A treatise on diet (1826). I am grateful to
Michael Richardson for giving me this citation.
42

24 IKB filled several volumes of ‗Miscellany‘ notebooks with a wide range of useful
information: see, for instance, the collection of ‗Facts‘ in items 8-10 of GWR Letter
Books held in the Public Record Office at PRO, RAIL 1149.
25 ‗J Hulme‘ was John Hulme, brother to Ellen, who was a good friend to IKB at this
time.
26 The Brunels felt that the directors of the Tunnel Company were responsible for a lot
of complaints which were not justified by the circumstances. Tawney was probably
one of these. From the directors‘ point of view, the inundations had exhausted the
financial resources of the Company, and they were understandably anxious about the
fate of their investment.
27 The ‗Battersea concern‘ was the sawmill in Battersea in which Marc Brunel had a
substantial stake, although it caused him great financial distress so that IKB‘s estimate
here is certainly on the optimistic side.
28 The ‗young Rennies‘ were John and his brother George who completed their
father‘s work on London Bridge. H.R. Palmer (1795-1844) was another prominent
engineer of the period who designed docks and other works and was one of the
founders of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 18l8.
29 ‗Let the worst happen!‘ or ‗Come what may!‘
30 It seems that IKB as a young man favoured pipe smoking, but he appears to have
abandoned it within a few years in favour of cigars.
31 The Duke of Wellington was a good friend to the Brunels, and spoke in public in
support of the Tunnel.
32 ‗Sir E‘ - possibly Sir Edward Owen, a director of the Tunnel Company: see
Clements, op.cit, pp.177-80.
33 This criticism of Benjamin Hawes may be the ‗weakness‘ to which IKB refers in
the dedicatory letter (see below), and it certainly seems to have caused him a little
embarrassment when he came to leave the Journal to his friend.
34 ‗A B‘ has not been identified, but she seems to have been a young lady of means.
35 ‗S R‘ has not been identified. ‗W H‘ could have been William Hawes, younger
brother of Benjamin and a good friend of IKB. ‗B...sh‘ is almost certainly Richard
Beamish, IKB‘s colleague and assistant engineer in the Thames Tunnel, who
subsequently wrote the official biography of Marc Brunel, Memoir of the Life...
(1862)
36 The Gravesend project was for a tunnel under the Thames between Gravesend and
Tilbury.
37 ‗A B…w', as in Note 34 above, has not been identified but IKB clearly thinks he
might have missed a financial opportunity by not pursuing his courtship.
43

38 ‗B-n‘ is Benjamin (Hawes).
39 The nature of Marc Brunel‘s business in Towcester has not been identified.
40 According to the Bartholomew Gazetteer, ‗Redriff‘ was a popular abbreviation of
‗Rotherhithe‘. I am grateful to Michael Richardson for pointing this out to me, even
though I had previously transcribed the word as ‗Redcliff‘ and interpreted this as the
first reference to IKB‘s involvement with Bristol: see Angus Buchanan Brunel: The
Life and Times of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (2002), p. 36.
41 It is not known what ‗unpleasant situation‘ the ‗poor Hulmes‘ were in, but financial
difficulties of some sort seem to be the most probable explanation. Michael
Richardson has helpfully observed that there was a serious and long-standing
challenge in the High Court of Chancery to the landed inheritance of Ellen‘s father,
as revealed in copies of documents deposited in the University of Bristol Library by
Anthony Abbott of Ball Haye Green, Staffordshire. In March 1827 Ellen‘s father had
been ordered in this matter to pay £4989. 13s. 6d into the Bank of England. His
failure to make this payment led to his imprisonment. It appears that he secured his
release by agreeing to relinquish to his adversaries all his real estate. Further research
is needed to ascertain how much property was indeed signed away at this time, but it
appears that the great mansion on the Ball Haye Estate was among the losses.
42 The ‗Gaz‘ project became another bitter disappointment for the Brunels, although
they did not completely abandon it until 1831.
43 ‗W-n‘ was probably G.W. Wollaston, Deputy Chairman of the Tunnel Company;
‗Ld A‘ was Lord Althorp (the son of Lord Spencer); and the ‗Duke‘ was the Duke of
Wellington.
44 Benjamin Hawes (1797-1862), MP, KCB 1856, Under-Secretary for War 1857-62,
married Sophia Brunel, the elder sister of IKB, in 1820.
45 The 1832 Election we the first after the Reform Act of that year. The Act created
many new urban constituencies. IKB supported Hawes as Radical candidate for
Lambeth and helped him to win the seat.
44