While, to visitors to the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral,
Horatio Nelson’s tomb appears as a black marble sarcophagus with a replica of
the Viscount’s coronet sitting on top of it, the body, however, is not enclosed
in the sarcophagus but in the oblong granite tomb beneath it.
The black sarcophagus was originally made for Cardinal Wolsey (died 1540), but
when the Cardinal fell from Grace and was stripped of most of his land and
titles, the object was withheld by the Crown.
After Nelson’s burial on 9 January 1806, King George III decreed that the
sarcophagus that had been intended for the Cardinal should be used for the naval
hero
Even when writing fiction, you can't beat primary sources
for information.
This little book (ordered through Amazon) is a transcript of the words of
William Beatty (1807), the surgeon who attended Lord Nelson on his death bed
aboard Victory and also supervised the preparation of his body to preserve it
on its journey to London.
The second picture from Wikipedia is reputedly Nelson's hair and queue which
were cut off by William Beatty
In the body of St Paul's Cathedral in London, is a marble
statue to Nelson. He is depicted holding an anchor with Britannia and the
British Lion at his feet. The monument is engraved with his great victories -
Copenhagen, The Nile and Trafalgar.
While many memorials to honour Lord Nelson followed his
death, He was not the only sailor to fall at Trafalgar.
Amongst those in the British fleet who died on 21 October 1805 that are
memorialized close to him in the crypt are Captain John Cooke killed while
commanding "Bellerophon" and Captain George Duff, commanding the
"Mars".
Captain Duff's head was severed by a cannon ball. He was buried at sea with 28
of his men who all died on the same day.
At the culmination of the funeral ceremony, Nelson's coffin
was to be removed to the crypt beneath the main floor of the Cathedral. But the
sarcophagus containing both a lead and wooden coffin enclosing the body was too
large and heavy to be maneuvered down the stone steps and into the crypt.
For this reason a hole had to be cut into the Cathedral's floor for the coffin
to be lowered through.
The hole that was cut is still visible in the roof of the crypt.
While the colours are perhaps more intense than in 1806, the
interior of St Paul's Cathedral has changed little since the time of Nelson's
funeral.
I took these pics when I visited London in late 2019.
At the time of Nelson's funeral, 58 mourning rings were
produced in 1806 and given to members of Nelson's family, the pallbearers and
close associates. Today 32 of these rings have survived.
George III Admiral Lord Nelson official mourning ring by Salters, Strand c1806.
Rectangular cushion head in black enamel with white boarder bearing a
Viscount's coronet above the initial 'N' (Nelson) and a ducal crown above the
initial 'B' (Bronte) both over the word 'Trafalgar'.
On 9th January, 1806 - almost two and half months since he
died at Trafalgar, Nelson was entombed at St Paul's Cathedral (Pic 1896). Prior to the
service, tiers of wooden seats - 15 layers high were erected to accommodate all
the invited mourners. From the central dome an enormous light lit the church -
made up of 200 piteni lamps.
From the walls hung the massive flags of Spain (red and orange - on the left)
and France (Blue White and red - on the right) - when the Great door was opened
a breeze blew through and the flags wavered eliciting a round of huzzas from
the mourners.
Directly beneath the dome was the coffin covered in a black canopy surrounded
by chief mourners and members of the Royal Family
It was Nelson's choice (if not to be buried at Burnham
Thorpe and to be give a state funeral) to be buried at St Paul's Cathedral and
not Westminster Abbey. His reason was that St Paul's was built on Ludgate Hill,
the highest point in the City of London, whereas Westminster Abbey had been
built on an area of riverbank that had been reclaimed from swamp.
It was Nelson's opinion that the Abbey would one day sink into the Thames.
While tens of thousands lined the streets and took part in the procession, only
mourners with invitations were allowed into the Cathedral for the service
On arriving at Westminster, the coffin was removed from the
boat and carried to the Admiralty where it remained until the day of the
funeral.
During this time huge preparations took place. Tiers of seats for spectators
were erected along the route to St Paul's and gravel was laid on the street to
fill all the potholes.
On the day of the funeral over 100 carriages assembled in Hyde Park and St
James Park including Royal carriages to accompany Nelson's coffin to St Paul's.
At Horse Guards, the Prince of Wales and his royal brothers, all mounted,
joined the procession.
Following the period of Wake and public viewing Nelson's
body was removed from the Greenwich Painted Hall and transferred to a boat to
carry if on its last journey on water for the burial at St Paul's Cathedral.
Dozens of barges made up the procession and the Thames was almost blocked, while
hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the river on both sides. The boat
carrying the Admiral's coffin was the Royal barge of Charles 11 (built 1670)
today this is housed in the Royal Navy dockyard museum, Portsmouth
When Nelson's Body finally arrived back in England for
burial (via Gibraltar, Portsmouth and Chatham) it was conveyed to the Painted
Hall at the Greenwich Seaman's Hospital.
Here it remained for the public to pay their respects for a period of three
days - being the traditional period for a Wake.
Tens of thousands of mourners descended on London and Greenwich to farewell
their naval hero.
The George Hotel on Portsmouth High Street is the place
where Horatio Nelson enjoyed his last meal before departing to join
"Victory" at Spithead.
Unfortunately the hotel was bombed in 1941 and demolished. However, the gas
lamp posts remain on the street to show the spot where the London coaches came
to a halt outside the original George Hotel’s front entrance. It was here Lord
Nelson had stepped from his post-chaise from Merton and entered the building.
A plaque on the wall commemorated the very place.
Nelson’s diary entry of Saturday Sept 14th 1805 reads, “…
embarked at the Bathing Machines with Mr Rose and Mr Canning at 2: got on board
Victory at St Helen’s..."
Nelson headed across a narrow bridge to the triangular shaped fortification –
the Spur Redoubt, and to the beachfront beyond. Here, with pebbles crunching
under his feet, he was able to gaze across Spithead and see the fleet gathering
for departure.
Fred Roe’s 1905 stylized painting "Good bye, my lads" depicts Lord
Nelson, with a ship-of-the-line in the background, waving farewell when he
departed Portsmouth. This, however, is a far cry from a senior naval officer
standing on a shingle beach with bathing machines close by and swimmers
splashing about in the water.
This bronze statue of Admiral Lord Nelson stands in
Portsmouth. It depicts him in an informal pose wearing the undress uniform
which he was wearing when he died at the Battle of Trafalgar. It faces the
place (the Spur Redoubt) on the beach where he stepped into a small boat that
carried him across Spithead to St Helens Road where he embarked on HMS Victory
for his final fateful journey.
Nelson’s Prayer:
On the morning of 21st October, 1805, the day of Nelson's death at Trafalgar,
he made an entry into his journal of the following prayer:
‘May the great God, whom I worship, grant
to my country and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious
victory, and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after
victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet. For myself individually,
I commit my life to him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my
endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To him I resign myself, and the
just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen.’
A framed plaque leans against his sarcophagus in the crypt at St Paul's
Cathedral.
Visiting London during the writing of this novel, and
stepping down into the crypt below St Paul's Cathedral, re-enforced to me the
magnitude of feeling that must have swept over the populace when Nelson was
buried in 1806.
Published this week - NELSON'S WAKE - Book 6 in the popular
Oliver Quintrell series.
Be transported from Cape Trafalgar to Spithead to Greenwich and on to St Paul’s Cathedral to feel
abject sorrow experienced by the public at the news of the Admiral Lord Nelson’s
death.
After witnessing HMS Victory's return to Portsmouth and
seeing the shocking condition it is in, Captain Oliver Quintrell joins the tens
of thousands of mourners who travel to Greenwich to pay their respects during the
3 days the body is lying in state.
A few days later, he attends the unforgettable spectacle of
his funeral at St Paul's Cathedral. The story is expanded in the new fiction story; "
Nelson's Wake"(UK-link)
published this week.
Sourcing facts from the records of that time, the reader can
almost hear and see the events which took place in London.
NELSON'S WAKE (USA-link) is a nautical fiction story unlike most others.
With the events based on fact from 1805 and 1806 this is a
must read for both naval and history enthusiasts.
'Nelson's Wake' is book 6 in the popular Oliver Quintrell
Series.
Released on Amazon on 29 March 2020 as an e-book. A paperback edition will
follow soon.
Also available in UK and other countries.
Pics courtesy of M. C. Muir (author) and Wikimedia and Wikicommons - all copyright free.
