After being built by Thomas Fishburn in Whitby in 1777, this two-deck  558-ton merchant ship witnessed many of the great events of a powerful empire. At the dusk of its life, the demise of sailing ships was nigh. The advent of steam would replace her elegant sails with a smoking funnel.

The original owners were a Mr J. Wilkinson and a Mr Abel Chapman but interestingly its initial name was not the Chapman but “Sybilla”. Whether Sybilla referred to his wife or daughter or to famous Sybillas of history such as Sibylla of Jerusalem (c. 1160 to 1190), queen regnant of Jerusalem or Sybilla of Normandy (1092 –  July 1122), Queen consort of Scotland and wife to Alexander I, one will never know. Her initial Captain was a Thomas Walker.