Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1767 – 1768; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 123.

Muster roll for the ship, the Emilia , 1786.
The Emilia sailed for Africa, although it is not known where and how many slaves were bought. Reports suggest that 180 (a low number for a ship with 45 crew) or 379 slaves were sold at Grenada, at an average of about £34 each (equivalent to about £1,700 today). Alexander Falconbridge, fourth on the list, was the ship’s surgeon. He later gave evidence to a Parliamentary committee about the slave trade.

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: 1786

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers