Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1767 – 1768; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 185.

Muster roll for the ship, the Hector , sailing from Bristol to Africa and from thence to London, 1786.
The Hector was a large slaving ship of 300 tons. She sailed for Gabon, on the West African coast, and then returned direct to London. The Hector was presumably a wood vessel , buying tropical hardwoods for the ship building and timber trades.

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