A half-length portrait facing right, wearing clerical bands and a plain black coat. The sitter was Rector of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, and the father of Admiral Lord Nelson. This portrait was painted at the request of Lady Nelson during the sitter's last visits to her in London. The artist made it a rule that all his sitters except the king and royal family should come to him for their portraits to be painted. He broke the rule on this occasion in honour of Nelson and out of deference to the age of the sitter.

The artist trained as a lawyer before entering the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 1772 where he may have studied with Johan Zoffany. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1776 and produced competent portraits throughout his long career since he had no shortage of clients. In 1793 he was named portrait painter to Queen Charlotte, and undertook a number of royal commissions. His straightforward style perfectly suited the stolid and conventional taste of the royal family. In 1795 John Opie described Beechey's pictures as 'of that mediocre quality as to taste & fashion, that they seemed only fit for sea Captains & merchants'.