Monday, June 27, 2011

the Marlborough - a migrant ship that disappeared between Lyttelton and London


The Marlborough was a three-masted clipper ship built in Glasgow and launched in 1876. With a crew of 29, the ship was commanded by Captain Anderson from 1876–1883 when she made voyages to Lyttelton NZ and to Dunedin, also making some very fast passages home to the UK, on one occasion, in 1880, travelling from Lyttelton to the Lizard in Cornwall in 71 days.

Marlborough made 14 successful voyages with immigrants from London to New Zealand up to 1890, most often returning with cargoes of wool and frozen meat. She had been converted to refrigeration as soon as the success of the venture was proven by her sister ship Dunedin, and carried her first shipment in 1882. In 1884 Captain Herd took over command and was aboard her at the time of her voyage from Lyttleton to London in 1890, when she disappeared without trace.

Some specifications
Displacement:  1,124 long tons (1,142 tonnes)
Length: 228 feet (69 metres)
Beam: 35 feet (11 metres) over paddle boxes
Draught: 21 feet 7 inches (6.58 metres)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was a poster/print of the Marlborough. It was a vertical portrait shape poster. I've been looking for it for over 20 years. Do you know if such a poster exists any more? It was a poster of a painting done of the ship as it was allegedly found in mouldy crumbling form in 1914.

transpress nz said...

We don't know of it, sorry. Maybe a reader will be able to give details of it.