Description:

Ships’ muster rolls, 29th September 1769 – 29th September 1770; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 27.
Muster roll for the ship, Mercury , sailing from Dominica in West Africa, to South Carolina, USA. 13 of the crew died. At South Carolina, the slaves were advertised for sale. Import duties into the USA on slaves totalled £2,320.The ship left Bristol on June 23rd 1768.

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: June 23rd 1768

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers