Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1787 – 1788; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 27.

Muster roll for the ship, the Alfred , sailing from Bristol to Africa and Jamaica, 1786.
The Alfred left Bristol for West Africa. The number of slaves bought is not known, but 300 were reported imported into 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: 1786

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers