Description:

Ships’ muster rolls, from 29th Sep 1772 – 29th Sep 1773; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive. Muster roll no: 82.

Muster roll for the slave ship Jason, which left Bristol in September 1772. It sailed to Angola, West Africa, where it collected 200 – 250 enslaved Africans. The ship then sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to South Carolina, USA, where the slaves were sold. The ship then returned to Bristol, Nov 1773.

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: Sep 1772 - Nov 1773

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers