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ADVANCE INFORMATION

A Man of Resolve:

Richard Henry

Brunton, Civil

Engineer

Geoff Goolnik

KEY SELLING POINTS
The unique biography of an individual playing various pioneering roles in civil engineering, in the late
nineteenth century, but with a social conscience.
A long and eventful career which embraced everything from lighthouse design and construction in Japan to
theatre architecture and ornamentation in Ireland.
A fascinating life of a neglected historical figure operating in a rapidly changing world.

A fascinating, well-illustrated and internationally researched biography of Richard Brunton, a talented civil
engineer in the nineteenth century and a proud representative of his profession in a rapidly changing world.
Brunton was born in Muchalls, Aberdeenshire and initially worked on railway line development. He then came to
prominence as chief lighthouse engineer to the Japanese government when the country was forced to ”open
up”. As well as building 25 lighthouses he also took a lead in town planning of the chief trading settlement of
Yokohama.

Returning to Scotland, Brunton became manager of a large petrochemical plant and then took over an
architectural ornaments business in London. The company won prizes and worked at home and around the
globe. Unfortunately, he over-dipped into its income to the extent he was declared personally bankrupt.
However, one of his theatrical clients, based in Ireland, approached him to become their architect and there he
created three gems of theatre design, two of which, in Cork and Dublin, still successfully function.

Geoff Goolnik is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, the State University of California and the University of
Strathclyde. He is a Fellow both of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland as well as a Member of the Japan Society, London.

Publication Date: 28th August 2024 £16.99 ISBN: 9781805144885
Thema subject category: DNB – Biography: general
paperback 234 x 156 mm 520 pp Portrait Author location: London

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