East End of London clearance. Industries associated with the sea developed throughout the East End, including rope making and shipbuilding. The former location of roperies can still be identified from their long straight, narrow profile in the modern streets, for instance Ropery Street near Mile End. Shipbuilding was important from the time when Henry VIII caused ships to be built at Rotherhithe as a part of his expansion of the Royal Navy. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time, the SS Great Eastern, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott Russell & Co, of Millwall.
Henry Marc Brunel Henry Marc Brunel Henry Marc Brunel (27 June 1842 – 7 October 1903) was the second son of the celebrated English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and followed his father's footsteps in becoming a civil engineer. Brunel attended King's College London from 1859–1861, and afterward attained experience in civil engineering through serving out various apprenticeships. He developed an interest in acting as a hobby, becoming a member of the Scientific and Amateur Dramatic Societies, and also contributed to his brother's biography of their father. Henry is noted for a partnership from 1878 with Sir John Wolfe Barry, with whom he designed