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Muster roll

Muster roll

Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1748 – 1749; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 87.

Muster roll for the ship, the Alexander, sailing from Bristol to Africa and Jamaica and Bristol, 1748.
The Alexander sailed for the Gold Coast in West Africa with orders to buy 450 slaves. The number actually bought is not known, but 405 were sold at Jamaica. The cost of the voyage was reported as £8,500 for equipping the ship and buying trade goods (about £450,000 at today’s values).

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

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