Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from the 29th Sep 1774 – 29th Sep 1775; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 185, continuation.

Continuation of Muster roll for the slave ship, Betsey, which left Bristol 16th December 1773 and arrived in Gambia, West Africa. The ship left West Africa with 128 enslaved Africans and sailed to South Carolina, USA, where the slaves were sold. The ship returned to Bristol.

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: 16th Dec 1773

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers