Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1785 – 1786; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 146.

Muster roll for the ship, the Hornet , from Jamaica, 1784.
It is not known where the Hornet went in Africa, nor how many slaves were bought. 280 were sold at Jamaica. A sale advertisement for the ship described it as calculated for the African trade, with 4 feet and six inches between decks.

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