Whitby was originally built for the London-Calcutta route, and sailed there in May 1837. She arrived at
Kedgeree,
Bengal, on 12 November. In May 1838, she brought the first 270 apprenticed East Indian hill coolie migrants from
Calcutta to
Berbice and
Demerara in British Guiana for Gillanders, Abuthnot and Co. In 1839
Whitby transported 133 female
convicts to Sydney. Under the command of Captain Thomas Wellbank, she left
Dublin on 18 February and arrived at Sydney on 23 June. On 20 June 1840 she left
Sydney for New Zealand. On 19 December she was reported landing three rescued crew members from the
Esperance and
Hesperia at
Grimsby. However, this may have been another ship, as she was reported sailing from Table Bay to Mauritius on 15 December. She was reported as being at Cork on 16 February 1841 having passed the
Olympus, which was sailing to New Zealand. She arrived at Gravesend on 3 or 4 March, being noted as having sailed from Lombock. Her first voyage to New Zealand was to Wellington under Captain Lacey. She arrived on 18 September 1841 at Port Nicholson. Her cargo included 20,000 bricks. On 3 November, while under the command of Captain James Swinton,
Whitby arrived at
Nelson, New Zealand, with the
Will Watch and
Arrow. In October she had participated in the
New Zealand Company's exploration of Golden Bay. In 1842 seamen on board her were paid
£3 5
s per month. Ownership changed in 1843 when she sold to Thomas Hawson in
Moulmein, Burma, then part of British India. In 1844 she was sold to Phillip Richardson of London and 1848 to Thomas Radcliff of London. On 3 February 1849 she left London with 165 immigrants to Melbourne, Australia. She arrived at Port Phillip on 28 June. On 31 July 1851 she had arrived from Port Phillip in Sydney. In 1851 or 1852
Whitby underwent major repairs, including a new deck. She sailed from Sydney on 30 September 1852 under the command of Captain Bruce, and arrived at Kaipara on 16 October to load a cargo of timber for Melbourne or Sydney. She had been earlier purchased by Mr Wright of Sydney for use by Wright and Grahame's line on the trans-Tasman trade. She sailed from Kaipara on the 19 December and arrived back in Sydney on 2 December. In March 1853 she again sailed from Sydney to Kaipara under Captain Bruce, arriving at Kaipara on 16 March. On this voyage one of the crew, Benjamin Leeland, fell into the Kaipara river and drowned. ==Loss==