Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1753 – 1754; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 78.

Muster roll for the ship, the Bonny , sailing from Africa to Jamaica, 1752.
The Bonny sailed for Calabar in West Africa. 189 slaves were sold at Jamaica. 12 of the crew died before the ship reached 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.

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers