Crew signed Monster Rol of a neutral trading ship during war to St Kitts 1782
An American Revolutionary War document: A crew signed agreement for a neutral trading ship to travel to French occupied St Kitts in 1782.
MONSTER-ROL OF THE TRADING SHIP DE VRIENDSCHAP (THE FRIENDSHIP). An original printed and manuscript crew agreement (Monster-Rol) for the Imperial-flagged merchant ship De Vriendschap, led by Captain Ole Lindwed, for a voyage from Ostend to St. Kitts during the American Revolutionary War. Ostend, 4 July 1782.
Large sheet approximately 340 x 210 mm. Original printed broadside completed in manuscript on both sides. The recto bearing the printed articles of agreement beneath the large engraved Imperial double-headed eagle, completed in manuscript with the details of the vessel, captain and voyage. The verso forming the crew register, recording the names, occupations, birthplaces and monthly wages of the crew, each man signing beneath his own entry, or, in one case, making his mark. Old folds as issued, light age toning and occasional edge wear, otherwise an about very good, complete example.
An uncommon survival documenting the engagement of the crew of the merchant ship De Vriendschap under Captain Ole Lindwed for a voyage from Ostend to St. Kitts, dated 4 July 1782, only months after the French capture of St. Kitts during the American Revolutionary War. The document records the vessel sailing under the "Keyserlyke Vlagge" (Imperial Flag), reflecting the neutral status of the Austrian Netherlands during one of the most complex periods of eighteenth-century Atlantic commerce, and the contentious issue of neutral flags.
The printed text constitutes the contractual obligations of the officers and sailors, setting out their duties aboard ship, discipline, conduct, wages, provisions and penalties. The reverse records the individual members of the crew, including their occupations, places of birth, monthly pay and receipts for advance wages. Particularly appealing is the survival of the crew's own signatures beneath their respective entries, together with the mark of one illiterate sailor, transforming what might otherwise have been an administrative record into a direct record of the individual men engaged for this wartime Atlantic voyage. The master is identified as Ole Lindwed of Mandal in Norway, while much of the crew originated from Scandinavia, including Sweden and Norway.
As Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic contested control of Atlantic trade, Ostend emerged as an important neutral port whose Imperial flag enabled merchants to continue commercial voyages which might otherwise have been interrupted by wartime restrictions. St. Kitts itself had become one of the principal strategic prizes in the Caribbean following its capture by French forces in February 1782.
Original maritime documents connecting identifiable vessels, named masters and crew with the wartime Atlantic trade are increasingly difficult to obtain, particularly those preserving both the contractual text and a complete crew register signed by the participating officers and sailors of a voyage conducted during the closing phases of the American Revolutionary War.