James Bremner
James Bremner (25 September 1784 โ August 1856), a notable
Life and work
James, the youngest of the nine children of Janet and James Bremner, was born in Stain, near
.His only education was the Bible. At the age of 16, he was apprenticed for six years to the
When, in 1846, Brunel's SS Great Britain went aground on the sands of Dundrum Bay, Ireland, it is to his son, Alexander Bremner, that Brunel turned for help after various leading salvage experts had either declared the salvage impossible or failed in an attempt. Alexander called in his father to develop a successful methodology. The method used by Bremner was later used to refloat her off a beach in South Georgia over a century later, after which she was brought back to her final resting place as a tourist attraction in Bristol. He frequently corresponded with Thomas Telford and was employed by Brunel as an engineering consultant when he built the Thames Tunnel under the Thames.
His career involved the rescue of perhaps 236 or more stricken vessels. As well as building and rescuing ships, he worked on 19
Bremner became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1833, and he was awarded the Telford Medal for several of his papers on engineering.
Bremner married early in his life and had numerous sons and daughters. His wife died in 1856 and Bremner himself died in the August of the same year. In 1903 a tall obelisk was erected to his memory on high ground overlooking Wick Harbour, where it stands to this day.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Bremner, James". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885โ1900.