Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1767 – 1768; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 140.

Detail of the muster roll for the ship, the Arabella , 1765.
The addresses of the crew are given in detail, rather than just saying Bristol . Thus, George Merrick, master, lived in St Nicholas Hill in Bristol, his officers in Orchard Street and Back Street, Bristol. Other crew members lived in less salubrious (pleasant, clean, and healthy to live in) areas of Bristol, near the docks, such as Marsh Street.

The muster roll is a list of all crew signed on for all or part of a voyage, which was used to calculate the money each man should pay to the Sailors’ Hospital Fund (insurance).

The Society of Merchant Venturers is a Bristol-based organisation, which was formed in 1552 as an elite body of merchants involved in overseas trade. The Society still exists today.

Date: 1765

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers