Donkin, Bryan II

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Paper and printing

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b. 29 April 1809 London, England

d. 4 December 1893 Blackheath, Kent, England

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English mechanical engineer.

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Bryan Donkin was the fifth son of Bryan Donkin I (1768–1855) and was educated at schools in Bromley (Kent), London, Paris and Nantes. He was an apprentice in his father's Bermondsey works and soon became an active and valuable assistant in the design and construction of papermaking, printing, pumping and other machinery. In 1829 he was sent to France to superintend the construction of paper mills and other machinery at Nantes. He later became a partner in the firm which in 1858 received an order to construct and set up a large paper mill at St Petersburg. This work took him to Russia several times before its completion in 1862. He obtained several patents relating to paper-making and steam engines. He was elected an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1835 and a member in 1840.

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Principal Honours and Distinctions

Member, Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers 1859; President 1872.

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