Robert Howlett in this feat of engineering. This project included the well-known portrait of the "Great Eastern"’s creator and engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, standing in front of the giant launching chains on the 'checking drum' braking mechanism at John Scott Russell’s Millwall shipyard. It was taken to celebrate the launch of the world’s largest steamship, in November 1857. This image, which depicts Brunel in an industrial setting instead of a more traditional background for a portrait, has been described as "one of the first examples of environmental portraiture". Howlett died in 1858, aged 27, at his home and studio at 10 Bedford
SS Malabar (1858) abandon ship. There was no loss of life. The passengers included James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros, the British and French plenipotentiaries to China, and "The Times" journalist Thomas William Bowlby, who later published an account of the wreck. It was reported that "Malabar"s cargo included 1,080 boxes of bullion, worth nearly £300,000 and 725 chests of opium. SS Malabar (1858) SS "Malabar" was a P & O mail steamship of 917 tons launched in 1858 that was wrecked in Point de Galle harbor on 22 May 1860. The passengers had embarked on "Malabar" when a