Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1753 – 1754; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 20.

Detail of muster roll of the ship the Indian Prince, sailing from Africa and St Christophers in the Caribbean, 1752.
One of the crew, H(?) Baker, is described as Negro. Free black sailors are occasionally found on slaving ships.

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.

The language used to describe people of African descent in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is unacceptable in today’s terms. We cannot avoid using this language in its original context. To change the words would impose 20th century attitudes on history.

Date: 1752

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers