Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1751 – 1752; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 9.

Muster roll for the ship, the Polly , 1749.
The Polly sailed for the Gold Coast in West Africa with orders to buy 400 slaves. It is not known how many were actually bought, nor where they were sold.

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: 1749

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers