Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1788 – 1789; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 7.

Muster roll for the ship, the Ruby , sailing from Africa and the West Indies, 1787.
The Ruby sailed from Bristol to Cameroon in Africa, buying only 105 of a planned 250 slaves. 97 were sold in the Caribbean island of Grenada.

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: 1787

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers