Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1748 – 1749; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 47.

Muster roll for the ship, the Jason, 1748.
The Jason, a large ship of 200 tons, sailed for Angola in West Africa, with a crew of 67 to look after the 600 slaves that were to be bought. The number actually bought in is not known: 340 were sold at 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.

Date: 1748

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers