Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1786 – 1787; Society of Merchant Venturers archive.
Muster roll no: 2.

Muster roll for the ship, the Betsey , sailing from Nevis, 1785.
The Betsey was one of many merchant ships supplying the colonies with manufactured goods and foodstuffs. It was government policy that the colonies should be a market for British-made goods, and supply raw materials to British industry.

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: 1785

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers