Michael Lane (26 October 1802 – 27 February 1868) was a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

who served as the Chief Engineer of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

(GWR). A protégé of

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

, he worked with both Brunel and Brunel's father

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

on various projects before joining the younger Brunel on the GWR. He eventually succeeded that Brunel as the railway's Chief Engineer, serving in the position for nearly eight years before his death.

Biography

Born in

Shadwell Shadwell is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It also forms part of the city's East End of London, East End. Shadwell is on the north bank of the River Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff and ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Lane began his career in 1825 working on the construction of the

Thames Tunnel The Thames Tunnel is a tunnel beneath the River Thames in London, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures wide by high and is long, running at a depth of below the river surface measured at high tide. It is the first tunnel known t ...

in nearby

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

, under Sir

Marc Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-American engineer active in the United States and Britain, most famous for the civil engineering work he did in the latter. He is known for having overseen the pr ...

and his son Isambard. The project nearly cost him his life when the tunnel was breached and suddenly flooded in May 1827. According to an account published by Isambard's son, Lane rose from the post of foreman bricklayer to become one of Isambard's most trusted assistants, due to the qualities of leadership and craftsmanship which he displayed in his work. Lane's experience in tunnel construction led to him being commissioned to build the Beaminster Tunnel in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

between 1830–32. Isambard Kingdom Brunel brought Lane with him to the

Bristol Docks Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out p ...

to serve as Resident Engineer from 1832–34. He subsequently accompanied Brunel to the

Monkwearmouth Docks Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bishopwearmouth ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and worked there until December 1840. He appears to have undertaken his first marriage, to Maria McSweeney, some time in the mid-1830s; although they had one daughter in 1836, Maria died within only a few years. Pressure of work on the Great Western Railway forced Brunel to quit the Monkwearmouth Docks in September 1838 and he called Lane south to work with him on the GWR at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

"in the full expectation of his prosecuting it with vigour and devoting himself entirely to it." Lane met and married his second wife Jane Harris, a native of Bath, while working there. They had ten children. Lane did not stay in Bath for long. In April 1839 the Monkwearmouth directors asked for him to be returned to his post in the north. Brunel reluctantly agreed, but urged the directors to take good care of Lane: "I hope that any expectations of future advancement he may have formed will be as fully realised as I feel sure yours will be by his usefulness." Lane returned to the GWR in January 1841 to work as an assistant to the Resident Engineer of the railway's western division. He moved to the

Hull Docks The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally cond ...

in 1842 where he worked as Resident Engineer before rejoining the GWR in August 1845, holding various posts with the company over the subsequent fourteen years. Following the retirement of Brunel's successor T.H. Bertram, Lane became the Chief Engineer of the GWR late in 1860 and retained the post until his death in 1868. His final years were troubled by

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...

, a 19th-century term for what is now understood as acute or chronic

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

, a

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

disease. He was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Michael 1802 births 1868 deaths British railway civil engineers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Deaths from nephritis English civil engineers Great Western Railway people People from Shadwell Engineers from London