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
Sophia Kingdom Sophia Kingdom Sophia Kingdom, Lady Brunel (c. 1775 – 1855) was the daughter of William Kingdom, a contracting agent for the Royal Navy, and the army. She was born in Plymouth, England. She was the youngest of sixteen children. When she was eight years old, her father William died (1783). Sophia was sent to France to improve her knowledge of the language. While working there as a governess she met Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849) at Rouen in the early 1790s. In 1793, Brunel had to flee the revolution, going to the United States, but Sophia remained in Rouen. During the