Samuel Charles Brees
Samuel Charles Brees (1810-1865), civil engineer and artist
1810 May 29th. Baptised at St. George, Bloomsbury, the son of Samuel Brees and his wife Susannah
In the late 1820s he served an apprenticeship with the London architect Henry E. Kendall.
In 1830 he trained as a civil engineer in Bristol under G. W. Buck and Robert Stephenson, and spent seven years employed as a railway engineer and surveyor. His most notable work was designing the greater part of the London to Birmingham line.
1833 June 25th. Married at South Hackney to Ann Taylor Jones.
Between 1837 and 1840 he published three technical monographs on railway construction.
Between 1832 and 1837, while resident in Birmingham, had several landscapes accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists.
1841 Living at Camden Town: Samuel Brees (age c30), Civil Engineer. With his wife Ann Brees (age c30) and their children Harold Brees (age c3) and Alfred Brees (age c1).[1]
1841 September. Signed a contract with the New Zealand Company for a three year appointment as a principal surveyor and civil engineer, at an annual salary of £600, plus allowances. Brees embarked on the Brougham on 2 October 1841, accompanied by his wife, three children and a servant. They arrived in Wellington on 9 February 1842.
During his term of office Brees was based in Wellington and was responsible for continuing the work of his predecessor, William Mein Smith, surveying the Karori Road and the hills surrounding Wellington Harbour. He oversaw the completion of the initial Wanganui and Manawatu surveys. In 1843 with Te Kaeaea he led an exploratory journey to the Southern Wairarapa through Upper Hutt and the Rimutaka range, and prepared the preliminary subdivisions of these areas.
By August 1844, six months before Brees's contract was due to expire, the New Zealand Company was in financial difficulties and no longer able to pay him.
1845 May 8th. Brees, with his wife, now four children, and a servant, sailed on the brig Caledonia for London.
On his return to London in 1845 Brees had resumed his former profession as a civil engineer.
1845 October. Listed as the Engineer-in-Chief to the Oxford and Salisbury Direct Railway.[2]
1847 September. Probably the 'Brees' who went to India as part of a team to survey the route of the East Indian Railway
He later practised in Brighton.
1851 Living at Glebe Lands, Mitcham: Samuel Charles Brees (age 40 born Bloomsbury), Surveyor. With his wife Ann Taylor Brees (age 39 born Bethnal Green) and their children Harold Brees (age 13 born Holborn), Edgar Brees (age 9 born St. Pancras), Alice Brees (age 7 born New Zealand), and Emma Brees (age 2 born Mitcham). Two servants.[3]
1851 Went to Australia.
1865 May 5th. Died of heart disease on board La Hogue, off Blackwall, London, after a voyage from Sydney with his family.[4] Son of the late Samuel Brees of Kentish Town.[5]