Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1766 – 1767; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 163.

Muster roll for the ship, the Dorsetshire , sailing from Africa and Jamaica, 1766.
The master, John Purnell, was also the co-owner of the ship. It is not known where the ship bought slaves in Africa, or how many, but 257 were sold in Jamaica.

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: 1766 - 1767

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers