ABSTRACT
On 21 April 1654 the day that Oliver Cromwell signed the articles of peace ending the First Dutch War, the Commonwealth Navy ship Marigold was ordered to convoy the English fishing fleet to Iceland. The Marigold’s captain, Humphrey Felstead, was further instructed to keep a journal of his voyage and send it to the Admiralty Commission on his return. The journal is significant both for being an early survival of its type and for being one of the best contemporary sources available on the activities of the English in Iceland during the early modern period. The journal of the Marigold reveals much about the Iceland fishery that is not known from other sources. It provides details of the route the fishermen took, the places they chose to fish, the place names they allocated to the coastline of Iceland and the hazards they encountered along the way.
