Saga - 1989, Page 95

EFTIRMÁL BYLTINGARINNAR 1809
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Summary
In the summer of 1809 a British trading expedition led by Samuel Phelps, a
London soap merchant, seized power in Iceland. Count Trampe, the Danish
governor, was arrested and Iceland was declared an independent country.
Phelps' interpreter, a Danish adventurer named Jörgen Jörgensen, governed
the country as „protector" of Iceland. This curious episode can be wholly
explained as a spontaneous reaction to Danish attempts to obstruct the
British trade. Two months later this so-called „Icelandic Revolution" was
ended by the intervention of the Royal Navy.
This article discusses the reaction of the British government to the Revolu-
tion. Count Trampe arrived in Britain in September to lodge an official com-
plaint. In a lengthy memorial to the Foreign Office he demanded that Phelps
and John Liston, captain of Phelps' ship the Margaret and Ann and Trampe's
gaoler, be made to stand trial in Iceland or in a British court of justice for their
„rebellious conduct" while Jörgensen „a malefactor and felon" should be de-
livered up to him to stand trial in Denmark for high treason. Phelps must re-
turn all money seized in Iceland, plus 4% interest and those Icelanders, who
felt themselves wronged by the British must be allowed time to come for-
ward with their claims and proofs to recover restitution. Finally, Trampe
asked the British government for a convention „by which the neutrality of
the country may be established, and the mutual relations placed on a firm
footing".
Trampe gained an invaluable ally in Sir Joseph Banks, the president of the
Royal Society, who had visited Iceland in 1772. Banks had encouraged
Phelps to embark on the trading venture to Iceland and had often proposed
to his government that Iceland be annexed to the British Crown. On the
other hand, the „Icelandic Revolution" was not the method Banks would
have chosen. Sincerely shocked, the baronet wrote many lengthy memorials
to the government denouncing these „atrocities" and „revolutionary pro-
ceedings".
The British government did not sanction the Icelandic Revolution as
Phelps and Jörgensen must have hoped would be the case. Jörgensen was
quickly arrested on a technical point (he had been a British prisoner of war
on parole) and imprisoned. Phelps was called to the Foreign Office where
Earl Bathurst, the foreign secretary, demanded an explanation of his conduct
in Iceland. Furthermore, his Majesty's law officers were ordered to study the
case to see whether it were possible to institute legal proceedings against the
offending parties. The law officers came to the conclusion that Phelps' letter
of marque should be revoked. Furthermore they were of the opinion that
„proceedings on the part of the King should be instituted and carried as far
as may be found practicable" in the Court of Admiralty and Prize Court.
However, they pointed out that obtaining proof from Iceland would be an
expensive and difficult business. Eventually Trampe and Phelps reached a
compromise agreement. Phelps' paramount consideration at the time was to
continue his trade with Iceland. Phelps & Co. had already applied for new li-