Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1793 – 1794; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive. Muster roll no: 200.

Muster roll for the ship, the General Orde, which was lost on Normansislands, 1793. The previous voyage of the General Orde had been to New Calabar, West Africa, to buy slaves. 226 men, women and children were sold at Dominica in 1792. On this voyage, the vessel was lost in August 1793. Whether it was taken by privateers, sunk or even taken by a slave rebellion on board is not specified.

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