Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1767 – 1768; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 187.

Muster roll for the fifth voyage of the ship, the Wasp ; sailing from Africa and St Vincents in the Caribbean, 1786.
The Wasp sailed for New Calabar, Africa, although it is not known how many slaves were bought. 210 were sold in St Vincents.

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