Admission ticket for the State Funeral of the Duke of Wellington, St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1852

Ticket '164' issued in the name of Earl Marshal Norfolk (1791-1856) to Lieutenant Hutton, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot.

The death of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) on 14 September 1852 marked the passing of an era. The victor of Waterloo and vanquisher of Napoleon, Wellington was perhaps Britain's greatest ever soldier, but as commander-in-chief of the Army in his old age, his belief that past methods were the best had acted as a brake on progress. Although his death provided the opportunity for military reform, the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854-1856) just over a year later meant that the time available for any reforms to take effect would be limited.

The procession of Wellington's funeral cortège to St Paul's Cathedral was watched by over a million people.