Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Great Eastern did not live up to expectations, and was never a success as a passenger ship." [Furtado: 1001 Days] "His vision and engineering innovations made the building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry." [Wikipedia: Isambard Kingdom Brunel] "SS Great Eastern was an iron sail-powered, paddle wheel and screw-propelled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling. [Wikipedia: SS Great Eastern]