Description:

Petition for Richard Ruth, of the ship, the Phoenix, for Financial Help from the Seamens’ Hospital Fund. The Fund was the result of an act of Parliament in 1747.

The Society of Merchant Venturers managed the National Insurance Scheme for Bristol, so petitions for help were addressed to them.

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: 31st Aug 1754

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers