The whole series of events, the first ever state funeral accorded to a commoner, together provided a spectacle on an unprecedented scale and all London came to a standstill when it took place on 9th January 1806. Nelson's body had been brought upriver, from Greenwich to Whitehall, in a "Grand River Procession" the previous day, laid to rest in the Admiralty overnight and then taken across London in an equally magnificent procession the next morning. The funeral service was charged with emotion for all those present inside the great cathedral and, directly it was over, people everywhere were eager for descriptions and pictures of what had taken place as soon as they could be made available. It is not known whether J.P. Brooke was present at the ceremony himself but it seems very likely that he was, given the painstaking detail of this drawing which was speedily published by Ackermanns. It is the opinion of the cataloguer, confirmed by experts at the National Maritime Museum, that this illustration is the artist's original from which the print was engraved.