In the first half of the 19th century, there raged in the newspapers of the day a great public debate. A military hero, long dead, remained – shamefully – uncommemorated. Money for a memorial was readily available, without troubling the public purse, having been raised by public subscription from those who appreciated his contribution to saving England from defeat by the French.

A statue was eventually commissioned, but even then that was not the end of the matter. There remained the vexed question of where it should stand. Trafalgar Square was proposed, but such was the resistance from a number of prominent people that the question was considered by parliament. After the matter went to a vote Trafalgar Square won the day and up went the statue of Horatio Nelson.