Alneburgh

Official Number 72924

The Alneburgh was an iron barque built by the Whitehaven Ship Building Company and launched on the 15th April 1876. She was owned and registered at Maryport by Capt.R.L.Armstrong. Her career had many similarities to that of the Egremont Castle, also commanded by her owner, and lost in the same trade the year before the Alneburgh.

On  21st Feb. 1878 the Alneburgh arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, from Melbourne under the command of Capt. Robert Leslie Armstrong (Crew List). The barque then made an 82 day passage from Sydney to San Francisco, with a cargo of 1250 tons of coal, arriving on the 8th June 1878.

The next voyage of the Alneburgh was from Liverpoo, departing 26th March 1879, to Sydney, arriving 17th July 1879 (Crew List). She departed Sydney for San Francisco on the 20th August 1879.

The Alneburgh was posted "Missing" in September 1880. She had sailed from San Francisco on the 27th December 1879, bound for England with a cargo of wheat and flour. She was lost with her crew of 25, and had been insured for more than £30,000.

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984).
2. Refer to  California Digital Newspaper Archive and National Library of Australia for newspaper shipping intelligence reports of this vessel.
   
3. Record of American and Foreign Shipping, 1879: Alneburgh, iron barque, off.no.72924, signal letters PMNL, 818 gross tons, owned and commanded by Capt.R.L.Armstrong, registered at Maryport.
   
4. Loss reported in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper, Friday 3rd Sept., 1880.