Early 1900s print of an 1858 photograph by Robert Howlett (1831-58), of a group of men including Isambard Kingdom Brunel, on the site of the construction of the SS Great Eastern, at Millwall on the Isle of Dogs.
The series of photographs by the young Howlett documenting construction of the SS Great Eastern, then the largest ship ever built, later appeared in the Illustrated London News as engravings, and included the famous portrait of Brunel against the ship’s launching chains (LDBRU2019.1).
A printed label on this photograph’s mount suggests the figures are John Scott Russell, Henry Wakefield, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Lord Derby. These identifications are unlikely to be correct: the other three figures have more recently been named as Ned Hepworth, William Jacomb and Solomon Tredwell. Some have suggested Hepworth is in fact William Harrison.
A manuscript signature in blue (ball point?) ink, likely that of a former owner, appears on the bottom right hand corner of the reverse; no identification has yet been made.