Michael Lane (26 October 1802 – 27 February 1868) was a British civil engineer who served as the Chief Engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR). A protégé of

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

, 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 o ...

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 a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has mea ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 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 35 feet (11 m) wide by 20 feet (6 m) high and is 1,300 feet (396 m) long, running at a depth of ...

in nearby

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

, under Sir

Marc Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Born in Franc ...

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 Beaminster Tunnel or Horn Hill Tunnel is a road tunnel on the A3066 road between Beaminster and Mosterton in Dorset, England. The tunnel was constructed between 1830 and 1832; it was one of the first road tunnels built in Britain, and is the o ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

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 per ...

to serve as Resident Engineer from 1832–34. He subsequently accompanied Brunel to the Monkwearmouth Docks in Sunderland 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 "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 con ...

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, and was frequently accompanied ...

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

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...

disease. He was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

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