Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1748 – 1749; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 96.

Muster roll for the ship, the Indian Prince, 1747.
The Indian Prince sailed for Calabar in West Africa with orders to buy 340 slaves. The number actually bought is not known, but 269 were sold at Jamaica. Owen Jones, ship’s cooper, on his first voyage, died at Calabar.

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: 1747

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers