Robert Pearson Brereton
Robert Pearson Brereton | |
---|---|
Born | (1818-04-04)4 April 1818 |
Died | 1 September 1894(1894-09-01) (aged 76) |
Occupation | railway engineer |
Known for | chief assistant to Isambard Kingdom Brunel |
Robert Pearson Brereton (4 April 1818 – 1 September 1894) was an English railway engineer. He worked under Isambard Kingdom Brunel for more than twenty years and, following Brunel's death, completed many of his projects.
Family
Robert Pearson Brereton came from a Norfolk family that produced other notable Victorian engineers Cuthbert A. Brereton (Sir John Wolfe Barry's partner) and Robert Maitland Brereton (chief engineer on part of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and advocate in the US Congress for the building of irrigation canals in California).[citation needed]
Brunel's assistant
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Royal_albert_bridge_hist.jpg/220px-Royal_albert_bridge_hist.jpg)
Brereton was recruited by Brunel staff in 1836 to be one of seven resident engineers supervising the construction of the Great Western Railway. He lost an eye in a work accident and is depicted in a portrait with an eye patch.[1][2] After the Great Western railway was completed, he carried out similar tasks on other railways that Brunel was building. For example, in 1845 he was one of Brunel's resident engineers on the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway[3] and was sent to Italy to sort out problems with the construction of the Turin–Genoa railway.[2]
He became Brunel's chief assistant in 1847 and remained in this post until Brunel's death in 1859.[1][2] His signature appears on drawings for the Chepstow Bridge which were prepared in Brunel's London office around 1850.[4]
One of Brunel's major and long-running projects was the construction of the Royal Albert Bridge across the River Tamar for the Cornwall Railway. In 1854 Brereton was sent as Brunel's assistant to help William Glennie, the resident engineer on the bridge, who was in poor health.[5] Much of his time in the next five years was spent on this project. He was instrumental in developing ways to excavate underwater to prepare for the construction of the central pier.[6] In 1857 he assisted Brunel when the first span was floated into position, and he then supervised the lengthy process to raise it 100 feet (30 m) to the top of its piers.[7] Brunel's poor health increasingly prevented him from attending work in Cornwall, and so Brereton supervised the floating out of the second span in 1858 without Brunel's help. He then saw through the raising of this span, the completion of the bridge and opening of the line in May 1859.[8]
After Brunel
After Brunel's death in September 1859 Brereton took over his role as chief engineer for many railway companies, designing new works and alterations. He ran his business from Brunel's old office in Duke Street, London, while Brunel's widow Mary continued to reside in the rooms above.[9] Some of Brunel's railways were still under construction, including the
- Bristol and South Wales Union Railway[10]
- Cornwall Railway[11]
- Dartmouth and Torbay Railway[12]
- West Somerset Railway[13]
Tributes and memorials
Brunel described Brereton in 1845 as "a peculiarly energetic persevering young man".[2] The Chairman of the Cornwall Railway, speaking in 1859 following the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge, described him as "always ready, always able, always full of energy."[14]
He has a memorial brass in the church in Blakeney.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Brindle 2005, pp. 230–232.
- ^ a b c d Buchanan 1976, pp. 7–10.
- ^ MacDermot 1927.
- ^ Binding 1997, p. 34.
- ^ Binding 1997, p. 70.
- ^ Shirley-Smith 1976, pp. 166–167.
- ^ Binding 1997, pp. 87–97.
- ^ Binding 1997, pp. 100–115.
- ^ Brindle 2005, p. 264.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, p. 5.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, p. 272.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, p. 239.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, p. 163.
- ^ Binding 1997, p. 7.
Sources
- Binding, John (1997). Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge. Truro: Twelveheads Press. ISBN 0-906294-39-8.
- Brindle, Stephen (2005). Brunel: the man who built the world. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84408-3.
- Buchanan, R.A. (1976). Pugsley, Sir Alfred (ed.). The Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. London and Bristol: Institution of Civil Engineers and University of Bristol. ISBN 0-7277-0030-8.
- MacDermot, E.T. (1927). "V". History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. 1 (1833-1863) (1st ed.). London: Great Western Railway.
- MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. 2 (1863-1921) (1st ed.). London: Great Western Railway.
- Shirley-Smith, Hubert (1976). Pugsley, Sir Alfred (ed.). The Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. London and Bristol: Institution of Civil Engineers and University of Bristol. ISBN 0-7277-0030-8.
- v
- t
- e
- Great Western
- Bristol and Exeter
- Bristol and Gloucester
- Bristol and South Wales Union
- Cheltenham and Great Western Union
- Cornwall
- Dartmouth and Torbay
- East Somerset
- Great Western and Brentford
- Llynvi Valley
- Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton
- South Devon
- South Devon and Tavistock
- South Wales
- South Wales Mineral
- Taff Vale
- Vale of Neath
- West Cornwall
- West Somerset
- Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth
- Angarrack viaduct
- Avon Bridge
- Bath:St James's Bridge; Skew Bridge; St James' Viaduct
- Bishop's Bridge
- Chepstow Bridge
- Chippenham viaduct
- Clifton Suspension Bridge
- Cornwall Railway viaducts
- Cumberland Basin swing bridges
- "Devil's Bridge", Uphill
- Gatehampton Railway Bridge
- Hungerford Bridge
- Landore Viaduct
- Loughor Viaduct
- Maidenhead Bridge
- Moulsford Railway Bridge
- Royal Albert Bridge
- Somerset Bridge
- Three Bridges, London
- Usk Bridge
- Wharncliffe Viaduct
- Windsor Bridge
- Great Western Steamship Company
- SS Great Western
- SS Great Britain
- SS Great Eastern
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern (1857 photograph)
- SS Archimedes borrowed by Brunel, used for propeller tests
- Brentford Dock
- Bristol Harbour
- Cumberland Basin
- Underfall Yard
- Millbay Docks
- Westport Canal
- Atmospheric railway
- Balloon flange girder
- Baulk road
- Broad gauge
- Brook House, Steventon
- Crew's Hole tar works
- Crystal Palace water towers
- Great Exhibition (Brunel on committee)
- Malmaison Hotel, Reading
- Renkioi Hospital
- Fellow of the Royal Society
- Institution of Civil Engineers (VP from 1850)
- Abraham-Louis Breguet (trained Brunel)
- Robert Pearson Brereton (Chief assistant)
- Marc Isambard Brunel (father)
- Sophia Kingdom (mother)
- Lindsey House (childhood home)
- University of Caen Normandy
- Lycée Henri-IV
- Henry Marc Brunel (second son)
- Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream (picture commissioned by Brunel)
- Brunel Manor (commissioned by Brunel for his retirement)
- Sarah Guppy, whose portrait was painted by Brunel
- Kensal Green Cemetery
- Statues of Brunel
- Brunel Museum
- Being Brunel
- Broad gauge running line
- Blue plaque, 98 Cheyne Walk
- List of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks (SS Great Britain #97)
- Brunel University London
- NR Brunel (Network Rail typeface)
- Brunel Award
- 100 Greatest Britons (Brunel #2)
- Two Brunel £2 coins in 2006
- 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony featured Brunel
- Brunel (opera project)