KG10 Children of Sir Marc and Lady Sophia Brunel

6.2  Sophia Macnamara Brunel m Sir Benjamin Hawes 

Sir Benjamin Hawes (1797 – 15 May 1862) was a British Whig politician.

He was a grandson of William Hawes, founder of the Royal Humane Society, and son of Benjamin Hawes of New Barge House, Lambeth, who was a businessman and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London; his mother was Ann Feltham, sister of John Feltham. He had a younger brother, who also was called William. There was another brother, Thomas, and a sister Sarah, married name Curtis. Barge House, where Hawes lived in the 1830s, was in the Christ Church area of Lambeth, at the corner of Commercial Road and Broad Wall.

Hawes was educated at William Carmalt's school at Putney, and when of age in 1818 entered into partnership with his father and uncle, in the business of soap-boiling.  He spent relatively little of his life in the industry, but was later known in parliament as "Hawes the Soap-Boiler

He resigned on 25 October 1851 by appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, and was appointed to the unelected position of Deputy Secretary at War, a position he held till 1857.

Hawes as official opposed sweeping change in his department. When Charles Edward Trevelyan reported on it, Hawes produced his own counter-report. For two years he served under Sidney Herbert, who worked closely with Florence Nightingale; but in 1854, during the first part of the Crimean War, Herbert went out of office. Hawes then acquired the reputation, with Nightingale, of obstructing her at every turn.

Jonathan Peel was of the view that the adoption of the Armstrong Gun was a result of Hawes's influence. In 1857, reorganisation of the War Office brought Hawes into a new post, as Permanent Under-Secretary. In 1860 Charles Babbage was dealing with Hawes, promoting a scientific approach to gunnery.

In 1820, Hawes married Sophia Macnamara Brunel, daughter of Marc Brunel. She died on 17 January 1878. The eldest daughter Sophia Brunel Hawes married Charles Justin MacCarthy in 1848.
The marriage made Isambard Kingdom Brunel his brother-in-law; and in his capacity at the War Office, Hawes called in 1855 on the younger Brunel to design a pre-fabricated military hospital, for the Crimean War.

He died on 15 May 1862.   Hawes is buried in a family vault in Highgate Cemetery in north London, where he happened to be Chairman for a number of years.


6.2.1 Sophia Brunel Hawes  m Sir Charles Justin MacCarthy (1811–1864) was the 12th Governor of British Ceylon and the 12th Accountant General and Controller of Revenue. He was appointed on 22 October 1860 and was Governor until 1 December 1863. He also served as acting governor on two separate occasions. He was first appointed in 1850.

His parents were Donough and Mary MacCarthy, and he was born in Brighton. He was a relation of Nicholas Wiseman, and in the early 1830s was in Rome, with a view to entering the Roman Catholic priesthood. Under the influence of the ideas of Lamennais, however, he ceased theological studies. In Rome through Wiseman he met Monckton Milnes, who became a lifelong friend. Milnes then helped him into a colonial career.

MacCarthy was knighted in 1857. In office he adopted a policy of financial retrenchment. His main aim was to promote railway construction. He left Ceylon in December 1863, in poor health. He died at Spa, Belgium on 15 August 1864.

MacCarthy married in 1848 Sophia Brunel Hawes, eldest daughter of Sir Benjamin Hawes. They had a son, Charles Philip.

6.3  Isambard Kingdom Brunel   m  Mary Elizabeth Horsly

1. Joanthard Brunel        1830        1859
2. Isambard Brunel        1837        1902
3. Henry Mark Brunel 1842 1903 m Georgina Gells Dunbar Noble
4. Florence Mary Brunel 1848 1876 m Arthur James JP


Mary Horsley was the daughter of William Horsley


William Horsley (18 November 1774 – 12 June 1858) was an English musician. His compositions are numerous, and include amongst other instrumental pieces three symphonies for full orchestra. More important are his glees, of which he published five books (1801–1807) besides contributing many detached glees and part songs to various collections. His glees include "By Celia's Arbour," "O, Nightingale," and "Now the storm begins to lower", and his hymn tunes Horsley usually set to There is a green hill far away.

In 1790 he became the pupil of Theodore Smith, an indifferent musician of the time, who, however, taught him sufficiently well to obtain the position of organist at Ely Chapel, Holborn, in 1794. He resigned this post in 1798 to become the organist at the Asylum for Female Orphans as well as the assistant to John Wall Callcott, with whom he had long been on terms of personal and artistic intimacy, and whose eldest daughter, Elizabeth Hutchins Callcott, he married. In 1802 he became his friend's successor upon the latter's resignation. Besides holding this appointment he became the organist of Belgrave Chapel, Halkin Street, in 1812 and of the Charter House in 1838.


Her brothers

John Callcott Horsley RA (29 January 1817 – 18 October 1903), was an English Academic painter of genre and historical scenes, illustrator, and designer of the first Christmas card. He was a member of the artist's colony in Cranbrook  Horsley was born in London, the son of William Horsley, the musician, and grand-nephew of Sir Augustus Callcott. His sister Mary Elizabeth Horsley wed the famous British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1836. Horsley was mentored by William Mulready and Augustus Wall Callcot who sent him at age thirteen to study at Dr Henry Sass's academy where he met D.G Rossetti, J. Millais and W.P. Frith; in his biography Horsley recalls Dr Sass as being vain and untalented. 

Following preparatory school Horsley studied painting at the Royal Academy schools where he met Thomas Webster. In 1836 he exhibited The Pride of the Village (Vernon Gallery) at the Royal Academy

Horsley designed the first ever Christmas card, commissioned by Henry Cole. It caused some controversy because it depicted a small child drinking wine. He also designed the Horsley envelope, a pre-paid envelope that was the precursor to the postage stamp.

Charles Edward Horsley (16 December 1822 – 28 February 1876), English musician, was the son of William Horsley.

He studied in Germany under Hauptmann and Mendelssohn, and on his return to England composed several oratorios and other pieces, none of which had permanent success. In 1860 he was appointed to arrange the music for the 1862 International Exhibition. In the following year he emigrated to Australia, where he worked as a choral and orchestral conductor, and in 1872 went to America.

Recognition of Brunel's work at a new centre in Bristol - Opened March 2018

Work on Being Brunel, a major new museum and visitor experience that will be a national centre of expertise in the life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, begins this week with the demolition of the vacant 1940s buildings alongside the ss Great Britain.

Demolition of the North Range buildings, which will be carried out by local contractors R.M.Penny Ltd, is expected to be completed in April, with construction work for the ss Great Britain Trust’s new visitor attraction beginning in the summer. As part of the work,  Brunel’s Grade II* Listed Drawing Office where he originally designed and built the ss Great Britain is being restored to how it would have looked in the 1840s.

Being Brunel is due to open in early 2018 and is expected to provide a huge boost to tourism in Bristol; contributing an additional £1m to the city’s annual economy. Visitors will be invited to immerse themselves in the hero engineer’s life and works, learn about his mistakes and celebrate his successes as his story is brought vividly to life with never-before-seen personal possessions, documents and artefacts.

Details of artefacts:

Brunel’s last cigar and cigar case, one of the most iconic symbols associated with Brunel, reflects his passion for fine things. It tells us that he was a member of the Athenaeum Club, and he often wrote about his visits to the club in his diaries. The Athenaeum Club was where Brunel would meet and network with people at the top of their disciplines and top of society across wide areas from authors and artists to scientists. This item is from the Clive Richards Brunel Collection which has become part of the National Brunel Collection.

A selection of silverware was gifted to Brunel by the Great Western Railway Company in 1845 as a thank you for his work. This consists of three silver-gilt dessert stands, two silver-gilt sideboard dishes, and a set of six silver-gilt salt-cellars and six silver-gilt spoons. At the time, the gift was worth around £2,100 (today that would be the equivalent to a bonus of £228,570).

Brunel’s school report gives us insights to how he was as a child. This 1821 report is from Brunel’s tutor, Mr. Massim, and includes a report and a letter.

This daguerreotype (photographic process) portrait of Sir Marc Brunel was taken between 1843-1849 at the ‘Photographic Institution’ Victoria Park, Bath. This provides an insight into the relationship between Isambard and Marc Brunel. This is one of the only (two) photographs of Sir Marc Brunel. It is on loan to ss Great Britain Trust by the Albury Family, who are descendants of Marc Brunel. The daguerreotype also gives an insight into early photographic processes and studios. It was made at the first photographic studio in Bath.

Matthew Tanner, Chief Executive of the ss Great Britain Trust, said: “This is an important milestone for this new venture, which is one of the most ambitious and exciting projects we’ve carried out since the ss Great Britain was salvaged and returned 8,000 miles from the Falkland Islands.”


The new museum will give unprecedented access to artefacts from the National Brunel Collection, currently cared for at the Brunel Institute, which includes over 14,000 items from the University of Bristol Brunel Collection, the Clive Richards Brunel Collection and the ss Great Britain Trust Collection.

The sister of Mr Samuel Guppy - A remarkable lady for the time.

Sarah Guppy, née Beach (1770 – 24 August 1852) was an English inventor who contributed to the design of Britain's infrastructure including the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, and developed several domestic products.

Sarah Maria Beach was born in Birmingham, England, and baptised in November 1770. She married Samuel Guppy in 1795. In 1811 she patented the first of her inventions, a method of making safe piling for bridges.

 Thomas Telford asked her for permission to use her patented design for suspension bridge foundations, and she granted it to him free of charge. As a friend of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his family she became involved in the Great Western Railway, writing to the directors with ideas and giving her support. In 1841 she wrote a letter recommending planting willows and poplars to stabilise embankments. She continued to offer technical advice despite the fact that, as she wrote, "it is unpleasant to speak of oneself—it may seem boastful particularly in a woman."

After marrying Bristol merchant Samuel Guppy they lived in Queen Square and Prince Street, a leading light of the Bristol and Clifton social scene. The couple had six children, including Thomas Richard, who with older brother Samuel operated the Friars Sugar Refinery in Bristol (1826–42) before becoming an engineer and associate of Brunel, contributing significantly to the design of SS Great Western and SS Great Britain. Brunel painted a portrait of the younger Sarah Guppy c. 1836