Isambard Kingdom Brunel to design Brunel Manor and its gardens to be his country home. He never saw the house or gardens finished, as he died before it was completed. Brunel, a heavy smoker, who had been diagnosed with Bright's disease (nephritis), suffered a stroke on 5 September 1859, just before the "Great Eastern" made her first voyage to New York. He died ten days later at the age of 53 and was buried, like his father, in Kensal Green Cemetery in London. He left behind his wife Mary and three children: Isambard Brunel Junior (1837–1902), Henry Marc Brunel (1842–1903) and Florence Mary
Marc Isambard Brunel Marc Isambard Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-born engineer who settled in England. He was married to Sophia Kingdom in 1799. In 1806 their son Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born. Marc Isambard himself preferred the name Isambard, but is generally known to history as Marc to avoid confusion with his more famous son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. His most famous achievement was the construction of the Thames Tunnel. Brunel was the second son of Jean Charles Brunel and Marie Victoire Lefebvre. Jean Charles was a prosperous farmer in Hacqueville, Normandy, and Marc