Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1766 – 1767; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 140.

Detail of muster roll for the ship, the Indian Queen .
Most of the slaving ships and merchant ships list one or more of the crew as having run away, (here marked with an R ), or deserted during the voyage. Here, six of the crew ran away in Jamaica after more than 14 months’ service.

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: 1766 - 1767

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers