Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1783 – 1784; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 101.

Muster roll for the ship, the Little Pearl , sailing to Africa, 1783.
The Little Pearl sailed with the Pearl , traded with the Pearl , and may have returned directly from Africa, leaving the Pearl to carry the slaves to the Caribbean.

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: 1783

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers