Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1783 – 1784; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 111.

Muster roll for the ship, the Wasp , sailing from Africa and St Vincent, 1784. The Wasp sailed from New Calabar. The number of slaves bought is not known, but 169 were sold at St Vincent. The ship was unable to find a cargo for the return voyage to Bristol. Failure to get a good cargo on any of the three legs of a slaving voyage could have a major effect on the profits of the venture.

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: 1784

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers