Howlett and Downes – Captain William Harrison, 1859

Maker: Robert Howlett (1831-1858) and George Downes (1812-1877)
Born: UK
Active: UK
Medium: albumen print
Size: 9.25" x 11.5"
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Notes: Dedication in pencil on recto below image: "To Oliver Eldridge" signed by "J.H. Dillon". This is probably taken during the construction of the Great Eastern ship.

William Harrison (October 1812 in Maryport, Cumberland – 21 January 1860) was a British merchant navy officer. He was the son of a master in the merchant navy. In January 1856 he was selected by the directors of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company out of two hundred competitors to take the command of the Great Leviathan, then building at Millwall in the Thames. The ship being at last completed after great delay, and renamed the SS Great Eastern.

Sotheby’s Belgravia Photographic Images auction on June 29th, 1979 offered a stereocard (lot 6) described as "A Stereoscopic Portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing in Front of Winching Gear, by Robert Howlett and George Downes, albumen print, the reverse inscribed in ink I.K. Brunel, Esq, Dec 1857/Jan 1858, that is a variation of this image.

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