The HMS Monarch in Portland carried the body of the late philanthropist George M. Peabody home to the United States from London for burial. The ship stopped in Portland Harbor before continuing on to Danvers, Massachusetts.

George Peabody, founder of the Peabody Institute, died in London on November 4, 1869 and, at the request of the Dean of Westminster and with the approval of the Queen, was given a temporary burial in Westminster Abbey. His will provided that he be buried in the town of his birth, Danvers, Massachusetts, and Prime Minster Gladstone arranged for his remains to be returned to America on the Monarch, the newest and largest ship in Her Majesty's Navy.