The Iron ship Reigate sailed from Middlesbrough in May 1881 under the command of Captain Samuel Plant. With him was his 14 year-old son, Samuel Cornell, on his first voyage. Captain Sam died while on passage for Madras, a sad event recorded by young Cornell, as he was known, in a letter to his mother still held in the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Cornell Plant went on to became a river pilot in Iran and later, China. He pioneered steam navigation through the Yangtse Gorges and became the first Upper River Inspector. A 30? granite memorial to him on the banks of the Yangtse Gorges, recently raised by the local authorities above the rising waters following the building of the great dam, is, arguably, the largest and most prestigious memorial to any foreigner in China.