Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, the father, whose most notable enterprise was the Thames Tunnel, was a French farmer’s son, and after various experiences in France and America settled in England in 1799, and married the daughter of William Kingdom of Plymouth. He had already succeeded as an engineer so well as to be appointed chief engineer of New York, and a scheme for manufacturing block-pulleys by machinery for vessels was accepted by the British Government, who paid him £17,000 for the invention. He was also engaged in the construction of Woolwich Arsenal and Chatham Dockyard, etc., and in 1823 he came forward with another proposal for the Thames Tunnel. In that same year, his son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, entered his father’s office, and assisted in the construction of the tunnel. The son subsequently became engineer to the Great Western Railway, and designed the _Great Western_ steamship. But though Brunel’s proposal for the tunnel was made public in 1823, the work was not actually commenced until March, 1825. It was to cross under the river from Wapping to Rotherhithe, and present two archways. And if you had been down by the Rotherhithe bank of the Thames about the latter date, you would have been surprised to see that instead of hollowing out a shaft, proceedings began by raising a round tower. A space was traced out, some 50 feet across, and bricklayers began to build a circular hollow tower about 3 feet thick and 42 feet high. This tower was strengthened by iron bars, etc., and then the excavation commenced within. The soil was dug out and raised by an engine at the top, which also pumped out water. And as the hollow proceeded, the great shaft or tube of masonry sank gradually into it. Bricklayers added to its summit until it reached a total height of 65 feet, which in due course was sunk into the ground. Thus, then, the engineer had, to commence with, a strong and reliable brickwork shaft, 3 feet thick, by which men and materials could ascend and descend in safety. A smaller shaft was also sunk deeper for drainage. And now the actual boring of the tunnel commenced. It was to be 38 feet wide and 22½ feet in height. On New Year’s Day, 1826, the boring-shield was placed below in the shaft. The shield was composed of 36 cells, 3 cells in height and 12 in breadth, with a workman to each. The huge “shield” was placed before the earth to be excavated, and a front board being removed, the soil behind it was dug out to a specified extent, and the board was propped against the fresh surface thus made. When the boards had all been placed thus, the cells were pushed forward into the hollow then made. This was accomplished by means of screws at the top and bottom of the shield, and which were set against the completed brickwork behind.