in ships operated by another Liverpool shipping line, James Moss & Co. Others who invested in James Moss's steamships in 1850 included WJ Lamport's cousin Charles Booth (1840–1916), who with his brother Alfred went on to found Alfred Booth and Company in 1863. Two of George Holt junior's brothers were apprenticed to Lamport and Holt: Alfred Holt from 1850 to 1857 and Charles Holt from 1855 to 1862. Alfred had been apprenticed to a railway engineer and became head of Lamport and Holt's engineering department. Another brother, Philip Holt, was a partner in Lamport and Holt. In 1866 Alfred and Philip Holt founded their own shipping company, which became Blue Funnel Line. Lamport and Holt continued to invest in sailing ships. In 1850 Charles Holt in Workington built the first of his ships for the partnership: the 407-ton Cathaya. In the Crimean War (1853–56) the UK government chartered steamships to carry troops and cavalry and sailing ships to carry stores. In February 1856 a Lamport and Holt sailing ship, the 697-ton Simoda, was wrecked off the Dardanelles. The partnership replaced her with the newly built Agenoria which at 1,023 tons was the largest ship Lamport and Holt had yet owned. The first steamship in which the partnership had a controlling interest was the 189-ton Zulu which they bought in 1857 from Scotts in Greenock. But they sold her in 1858 and continued trade with a fleet of 17 sailing ships. Liverpool, Brazil and River Plate Steam Navigation Co Ltd In 1861 Lamport and Holt finally committed to operating steamships by obtaining the Memnon from Scotts. In 1862 Andrew Leslie of Hebburn, County Durham built the Copernicus to join her. Each of the two new steamships had an iron hull and was rigged as a brig. They joined James Moss & Co's steamships on a joint trade between Liverpool and the Mediterranean. Copernicus began Lamport and Holt's custom of naming its steamships after notable scientists and artists. Lamport and Holt operated purely as a partnership for their first two decades of trading. On 18 December 1865 they added a limited company, the Liverpool, Brazil and River Plate Steam Navigation Co Ltd, to own their steamships. However, they continued to own and operate sailing ships under the traditional system of 64 shares. Until the 1860s the Empire of Brazil banned foreign ships from the Brazilian coastal shipping trade. Foreign ships could bring