Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1751 – 1752; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 50.

Muster roll for the ship, the Charming Betty , sailing from Bristol to Africa and America, 1749.
The Charming Betty sailed for the Bight of Benin, in Africa, with orders to buy 400 slaves. The number actually bought is not known: 280 were sold at Virginia USA.

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