SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Archival material

Isambard Kingdom Brunel archive

I.K. Brunel

Accounts

  • Parliamentary accounts, &c: general cash statements. 4 v. 1837-1849
  • Parliamentary accounts, &c: rough statements. 3 v. 1844-1856
  • Permanent surveys: setting out accounts, &c. 1845-1858
  • Sundry: general cash statements, &c. 3 v. 1846-1855
  • General statements of payments made to assistants. 2 v. 1851-1859
  • Cork & Youghal, Cork & Fermoy Railway Companies. 1 v. 1854-1859
  • Miscellaneous. 1 v. 1842-1850
  • Agenda book. (Mainly GWR). 1837-1844

Atmospheric Railway

  • Report on the Chester & Holyhead Railway by Robert Stephenson. Printed, but annotated by Brunel. 1844
  • Report from Select Committee. 1845
  • Compressed Air Company prospectus. Printed. c.1852
  • Croydon & Epsom Railway. 1 v. of miscellaneous printed items. 1844
  • Bristol & Exeter Railway. 16 survey plans, 14 sections in case. 1836
  • Bristol & South Wales Union Railway doubling. 19 large working drawings. 1889
  • Bristol Docks. Notes & calculations book (includes Portishead Pier & Great Britain & Great Western steamships). 1839-184-
  • Bristol Harbour Railway. 7 contract drawings. 1869
  • Bristol Joint Station. 71 plans & drawings. c.1870-1890
  • Bristol Railway. Notes & calculations book (mainly GWR). 1833-1834
  • Cheltenham & Great Western Union Railway. 3 large working drawings. 183-
  • Cheltenham Railway. Notes & calculations book. 184-
  • Devon & Dorset Railway. 2 plans, 1 section. 1857

Clifton Suspension Bridge

  • Annual reports of Company. 2 v. 1861-1951
  • Board of Directors. Minute books. 4 v. 1860-1953
  • Bonds & releases from Trustees for contracts 1 & 2. 3 items. 1837-1845
  • CSB Vol. I: letterbook. 1829-1836
  • CSB Vol. II: calculations, notes & sketches. 1838?-1850
  • Calculations. 2 v. c.1839
  • Cash book. 2 v. 1830-1867
  • Committee letterbook. 1830-1857
  • Committee minute book. 2 v. 1831-1839; 1857-1958
  • Committee minutes. 1 item. 1869
  • Drawings. 31 large working drawings. 1860-1939
  • Engravings, prints, posters, contemporary photographs of various dates, showing different designs, construction, &c.; also newspaper cuttings, section of the first metal bar, &c.
  • Register of debentures. 1864-1891
  • Register of shareholders. 2 v. 1862-1867; 1903-1952
  • Register of shares. 1862-1889
  • Sub-committee minute book. 1836-1843
  • Ticket books: platform; visitors; banquet. 2 items. 1864
  • Trustees proceedings. 1830-1900

Diaries

  • Personal diary. 1 v. 1827-1829
  • Private diaries (Thames Tunnel, &c.) 2 v. 1824-1826
  • Private diaries (Clifton Suspension Bridge, GWR &c.) 2 v. 1830-1834

 

  • Dorset Central Railway. Plans & sections. 1856

  • Exe Valley Railway. Survey plan: Stoke Canon to Tiverton. 1879

  • Facts: volume of misc. notes & data, sketches, calculations, adverts. 1829-1844

  • General calculations books. 1834-1841; 1850-1858

  • Gloucester & Dean Forest Railway. Minutes of meeting to discuss Gloucester Joint Station. 1850

  • Great Britain steamship. Logbook of 4th voyage, Liverpool- New York. 1846

Great Eastern steamship

  • Applications for jobs. 13 items. 1857-1858
  • Applications to visit ship. 23 items. 1858
  • Atlantic Telegraph cable (section). 1866
  • Bills & accounts. 6 groups. 1854-1858
  • Completion of ship. 16 items. 1859
  • Correspondence: fixtures & fittings. 19 groups. 1852-1859
  • Correspondence: friends & colleagues. 48 groups. 1852-1859
  • Draft letters & memoranda. 6 items. 1856-1859
  • Drawings. 9 items, 2 with Brunel's signature. 185-
  • Eastern Steam Navigation & Great Ship Co. letterbooks. 6v. 1852-1859
  • ESN Co. calculation book. 1854-1858
  • ESN Co. contracts. 1 v. 185-
  • ESN Co. memoranda. 1 v. 1856
  • ESN Co. notebooks. 3 v. 1856-1857
  • ESN Co. papers. 5 bundles. 185-
  • Inventions offered for use on the Great Eastern. 32 items. 1856- 1859
  • Inventions for launching the ship. 200+ items. 1857-1858
  • Launch of ship. Notebook (by HMB for the Life of I.K. Brunel ). 1869
  • Legal documents. 4 items. 1859
  • List of shareholders. 1 item. 185-
  • Minute book. Draft history of Great Western, Great Britain & Great Eastern. 1835-1859
  • Miscellaneous. 8 items. 185-
  • Preliminary experiments, ship's trials, &c. 21 items. 1852-1855
  • Printed material; incl. An account of the Leviathan. 1852-1859
  • Progress reports. 9 items. 1852-1855

Great Western Railway

  • Account of proceedings, with minutes of evidence. 1834
  • Account books. Osborne Ward & Son. 5 v. 1839-1841
  • Account books. Osborne Ward & Co. 9 v. 1849-1862
  • Application for a 2nd Parliamentary Bill (with Brunel's notes). 1835?
  • Copy letters and documents. 3 bundles. 1837; 1850-53
  • Draft letters to Committee. 2 items in Brunel's hand. 1833
  • Instructions to surveyors. 1 item. 1834
  • Letter. Brunel to Nicholas Wood on laying of permanent way. 1838
  • Letterbook. 1 v. 1916-1918
  • List of gradients. 1 item in Brunel's hand? 1835
  • Locomotive returns from Gooch & McConnel. 18--
  • Pamphlets. Volume annotated by Dionysius Lardner. 1833-1835
  • Parish of Bathampton: section, plan, reference book. c.1836

Particular contracts

  • 1C. Large working drawing. 183-
  • 2B, 3B, 6B, 1R, 3R. Large working drawings. 1836-1837
  • 3B, 3B extension, 6B, 2B completion. Contract: GWR & David McIntosh. 1839
  • 9L. Hanwell Embankment &c. Copy letters. 1837-1839
  • Lorry for Gloucester hoist. Large working drawing. 1853
  • Printed notices & forms. 3 items. 1833-1834, 1857
  • Project for Junction of Birmingham & Bristol Railways.1834-1835
  • Report to Directors of the GWR by George Stephenson and Henry Palmer (printed). 1835
  • Report to the Irish Railway Commissioners (Broad gauge). 1836
  • Shares. Letter on forfeit. 1840
  • Statement of accounts. Stock & share capital. 2 items. 1865
  • Summing up. Brunel's notes on the Committee stage of the 1st GWR Bill. 1834
  • Tools &c. Album of drawings, many bearing notes & captions, some in Brunel's hand. 1837-1840
  • Great Western & Midland Railways: Clifton Extension Railway. Draft contract, specifications, &c. on Clifton Down & Montpelier Stations. 1873-1874
  • Index volume of miscellaneous projects. 1821-1865
  • Journal volume. Notes & calculations on various railways in the West & South Wales & other projects. 1848-1849
  • Letterbooks. 15 v. 1832-1866

Letters from Brunel

  • to J.-A. Blanqui. 1851
  • to G.T. Clarke on Wear Docks, Bristol & Gloucester & Oxford Branch Railways, &c. 1836
  • to G.T. Clarke & others. 5 letters. 1836-1858
  • to H.T. Ellicombe. Clifton Suspension Bridge drawings, &c. 1830
  • to T.R. Guppy. 36 letters, mainly on the GWR. 1838-1840
  • to C. Manby. 18--
  • to Lord Seymour. 1852
  • to R. Smith & J. Fowler. 2 letters on the Oxford & Worcester Railway. 1845
  • to C.A. Saunders, D. Gooch & others. 51 letters on the Great Western Railway. 1839-1858
  • to E. Woods on the manufacture of rails. 1854

Letters to and from family

  • Brunel to J.C. Horsley. 3 letters. 1848?-1858
  • Brunel to Mary Horsley (Brunel), describing the survey for the GWR, his walk from Bathford Bridge to the Cow & Candlesnuffers at Wootton Bassett. 183-
  • Mrs. E.H. Horsley & family to Mary Horsley (Brunel). 1836

Letters to Brunel

  • from Sir W. Armstrong. 29 letters. 1850-1857
  • from Sir B. Leslie. 32 letters concerning the Great Eastern and Victoria Railways. 1856-1857
  • from Robert Stephenson. 56 letters on the GWR, the Great Eastern, Chepstow Bridge, &c. 1831-1858
  • from Sir J. Graham, Sir S.M. Peto, Dr. D. Lardner, J. Locke, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Sir F. Pettit Smith & Sir A.W. Callcott. 7 letters on GWR, Great Britain, &c. 1835-1843
  • from friends & colleagues. 57 correspondents, 130 letters mainly on engineering matters. 1834-1859
  • to Brunel & others from several correspondents. 9 letters on GWR, Newcastle & Carlisle, &c. 1846-1856

 

  • London & Birmingham Railway. Extracts from minutes of evidence. 1832

  • London & Croydon Railway. Notes & calculations. 184-

  • Miscellaneous papers. 4 items, concerning the Bristol & Swansea Docks, the Great Britain, &c. 1848-1857

Notebooks

  • General notebooks. 4 v. containing notes on links for bridges, including Clifton, GWR, Clifton & Chepstow Bridges, Thames Tunnel. 1827-1850
  • Notebooks of notes, calculations & sketches on Great Eastern, Saltash Bridge, South London Railway, Victoria Railways, &c. 8 v. 1856-1857
  • Notebooks of data from experiments with the Polyphemus and Rattler steamships. 2 v. 1841-1844

Print

  • framed engraving by T.O. Barlow. 185-

Sketchbooks

  • Large: 1-13, 15, 17, 19, Steamship 1852-1854. 17 v.
  • Small: 1, 3, 5-6, 22-27, 27a, 29-33. 16 v. (Small 5 contains 2 contemporary photographs of Chepstow Bridge)
  • GWR 5-19, 21, 1836, 1837, 1840, 1855, 18 v.
  • 1835, 1836
  • CH.R. 1836 [Cheltenham & G.W. Union Railway]
  • TVR 1836 [Taff Vale Railway]
  • Miscellaneous, no.1

 

  • South Devon Railway. 3 engineers' reports. 1845-1846
  • South Wales Railway. 9 large working drawings. 1857-1879
  • Thames Tunnel (see also the Sir Marc Isambard Brunel archives):
  • General remarks. Shared v. of notes & drawings. Contains list, in MIB's hand, of the chief occurrences in carrying on the works of the Thames Tunnel. 1824-1842
  • Thames Tunnel journals. 3 v. 1826-1829
  • Tools, drawing instruments, &c. 40 items in a collection also containing instruments made for Henry Marc Brunel and others used in the Duke Street Office, are inscribed I.K. Brunel, or I.K.B. 18--
  • Watcombe House. Large plans & elevations. Annotated by Brunel. c.1854
  • Wiltshire, Somerset & Weymouth Railway. 2 large scale drawings. 184-

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