Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1793 – 1794; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive. Muster roll no: 187.

Muster roll for the ship, the Ocean , from Jamaica, 1793. The Ocean was carrying a large crew for a ship trading between Bristol and Africa. Ships on this run , carrying goods to Jamaica and sugar and rum back to Bristol, did not usually need large crews.

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: 1793

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers