Description:

Ships’ muster rolls from 1749 – 1750; Society of Merchant Venturers’ archive.
Muster roll no: 7.

Muster roll for the ship, the Susanna, 1748.
The Susanna sailed for Africa with orders to buy 550 slaves. The number actually bought is not known, but 470 were sold at Jamaica. Ninth on the list of crew is a man named Congo Bristol, of Bristol. The name suggests he was African and perhaps a free black sailor.

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: 1748

Copyright: Copyright The Society of Merchant Venturers