Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1788 – 1789; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 173.

Muster roll for the ship, the Active , sailing from Bristol to Africa and Jamaica and back to Bristol.
The Active sailed for the Gold Coast with orders to buy 350 slaves. The number actually bought is not known, but 260 were sold at 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: 1787

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers