I realise that this is an old thread, but wanted to offer an update. The Alpha, a 242 ton brig, sailed out of Whitby between 1840 [when it was launched] and 1850 when it went down with all hands off the island of Hogland [aka Gogland] in the Gulf of Finland. My great great grandfather, Christopher Scorra [aka Scurra/Scurrah], was the captain. The Alpha sailed with coal as far afield as St Petersburg, Montreal and Marseille, and brought back timber from Scandinavia and Canada. The ship did not travel to Australia. Christopher Scorra's eldest son was also a seaman and I believe that he was with his father on the ship when it was lost, but do not have the evidence for that.