Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1794 – 1795; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 14.

Detail from muster roll of the ship, the Brothers, 1793.
The cook on board, William Cary, was born in Africa, and was perhaps a free black seaman.

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: 1793

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers