Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from the 29th Sep 1774 – 29th Sep 1775; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive. Muster roll no: 193.

Muster roll for the slave ship, Reliance, which sailed from Bristol to Bonny in West Africa, where 350 enslaved Africans were brought on board. The ship then sailed to Grenada, then Jamaica/ St Kitts, and back to Bristol.

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: 29th Sep 1774 - 29th Sep 1775

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers