Robert Howlett Robert Howlett Robert Howlett (born 3 July 1831 in Theberton, Suffolk, and died at 10 Bedford Place, Campden Hill, Kensington, London on 2 December 1858), was a pioneering British photographer whose pictures are widely exhibited in major galleries. Howlett produced portraits of Crimean War heroes, genre scenes and landscapes. His photographs include the iconic picture of Isambard Kingdom Brunel which was part of a commission by the "Illustrated Times" ) to document the construction of the world's largest steamship, the SS "Great Eastern". He exhibited at the London Photographic Society and published "“On the Various Methods of Printing Photographic Pictures
Francis Pettit Smith for propelling vessels by means of a screw revolving beneath the water at the stern. After securing the financial backing of several parties, he helped organize the Propeller Steamship Company which in 1839 built the world's first successful screw-propelled steamship, . A short time later, he was instrumental in persuading Isambard Kingdom Brunel to change the design of the SS "Great Britain" from paddle to screw propulsion, by lending Brunel the "Archimedes" for several months. He also helped persuade the British Admiralty to adopt screw propulsion. Between 1864 and 1870 he resided in an elegant Victorian house at 17 Sydenham