he Herald of the Morning was described in the contemporary
Melbourne press as being 'a fine ship of 1292 tons register'.
The vessel was ship rigged (square sails on each of its three
masts) and built in 1855 at St. John New Brunswick; being
classed Al by Lloyd's for seven years. The ship was constructed
during the great North American clipper ship era that commenced
in the year 1845, and where due to economic and other
circumstances, was finished by 1860. This was an exciting period
in which new ideas and new technologies such as roller-reefing
for ships' yards and other innovations were being tried. This
era of ship building saw significant advances in ship design and
construction, and if an analogy can be drawn, it must be the
difference between a propeller driven plane, and a jet. Both
have wings and fly, but they are miles apart in technology.
There would be few examples in Victoria where significant hull
structure of a clipper ship remain in an unbroken state. There
is the possibility that the Herald of