The following account of aviation history has been edited and adapted for Web viewing by Barb Tomlin. Itappears as Chapter 3 in the book written by Bacon, published in 1870. We were surprised to find in our reading of this chapter that there may have been a prior ascension by an Englishman but because it could not be verified to the satisfaction of theking, history remains unchanged. If you should wish to link directly to this page, please use http://www.ballooning.net/doach03.htm as the return address.

Who Was First to Fly — an Englishman or theItalian?
As may be supposed, it was not long before the balloon was introducedinto England.  Indeed, the first successful ascent on record madein our own country took place in the summer of 1784, ten months previousto the fatal venture narrated at the close of the last chapter.  Now,it is a remarkable and equally regrettable circumstance that though thefirst ascent on British soil was undoubtedly made by one of our own countrymen,the fact is almost universally forgotten, or ignored, and the credit isaccorded to a foreigner.

Let us in strict honesty examine into the case.  Vincent Lunardi,an Italian, Secretary to the Neapolitan Ambassador, Prince Caramanico,being in England in the year 1784, determined on organising and personallyexecuting an ascent from London; and his splendid enterprise, which waspresently carried to a successful issue, will form the principal subjectof the present chapter.  It will be seen that remarkable success crownedhis efforts, and that his first and ever memorable voyage was carried throughon September 15th of that year.

The Englisman's Claim
More than a month previously, however, attention had been called tothe fact that a Mr. Tytler was preparing to make an ascent from Edinburghin a hot air balloon, and in the London Chronicle of August27th occurs the following circumstantial and remarkable letter from a correspondentto that journal:

Edinburgh, Aug. 27, 1784.

"Mr. Tytler has made several improvements uponhis fire balloon. The reason of its failure formerly was its being madeof porous linen, through which the air made its escape.  To remedythis defect, Mr. Tytler has got it covered with a varnish to retain theinflammable air after the balloon is filled.

"Early this morning this bold adventurer tookhis first aerial flight.  The balloon being filled at Comely Garden,he seated himself in the basket, and the ropes being cut he ascended veryhigh and descended quite gradually on the road to Restalrig, about halfa mile from the place where he rose, to the great satisfaction of thosespectators who were present.  Mr. Tytler went up without the furnacethis morning; when that is added he will be able to feed the balloon withinflammable air, and continue his aerial excursions as long as he chooses.

"Mr. Tytler is now in high spirits, and in histurn laughs at those infidels who ridiculed his scheme as visionary andimpracticable.  Mr. Tytler is the first person in Great Britain whohas navigated the air."

Tytler Confides in Lunardi but Loses His Claim
Referring to this exploit, Tytler, in a laudatory epistle addressedto Lunardi, tells of the difficulties he had to contend with, and artlesslyreveals the cool, confident courage he must have displayed.  No shelterbeing available for the inflation, and a strong wind blowing, his firstmisfortune was the setting fire to his wicker gallery.  The next wasthe capsizing and damaging of his balloon, which he had lined with paper. He now substituted a coat of varnish for the paper, and his gallery beingdestroyed, so that he could no longer attempt to take up a stove, he resolvedto ascend without one.  In the end the balloon was successfully inflated,when he had the hardihood to entrust himself to a small basket (used forcarrying earthenware) slung below, and thus to launch himself into thesky.  He did so under the conviction that the risk he ran was greaterthan it really was, for he argued that his craft was now only like a projectile,and "must undoubtedly come to the ground with the same velocity with whichit ascended."  On this occasion the crowd tried for some time to holdhim near the ground by one of the restraining ropes, so that his flightwas curtailed.  In a second experiment, however, he succeeded in risingsome hundreds of feet, and came to earth without mishap.

But little further information respecting Mr. Tytler is apparently forthcoming,and therefore beyond recording the fact that he was the first British aeronaut,and also that he was the first to achieve a balloon ascent in Great Britain,we are unable to make further mention of him in this history. Of his illustriouscontemporary already mentioned there is, on the contrary, much to record,and we would desire to give full credit to his admirable courage and perseverance.

Lunardi Earns the King's Approval
It was with a certain national and pardonable pride that the youngItalian planned his bold exploit, feeling with a sense of self- satisfaction,which he is at no pains to hide, that he aimed at winning honour for hiscountry as well as for himself.  In a letter which he wrote to hisguardian, Chevalier Gherardo Compagni, he alludes to the stolid indifferenceof the English people and philosophers to the brilliant achievements inaeronautics which had been made and so much belauded on the Continent. He proclaims the rivalry as regards science and art existing between Franceand England, attributing to the latter an attitude of sullen jealousy. At the same time he is fully alive to the necessity of gaining Englishpatronage, and sets about securing this with tactful diplomacy.  Firsthe casts about for a suitable spot where his enterprise would not failto enlist general attention and perhaps powerful patrons, and here he isstruck by the attractions and facilities offered by Chelsea Hospital. He therefore applies to Sir George Howard, the Governor, asking for theuse of the famous hospital, to which, on the occasion of his experiments,he desires that admittance should only be granted to subscribers, whileany profits should be devoted to the pensioners of the hospital. His application having been granted, he assures his guardian that he "stillmaintains his mental balance, and his sleep is not banished by the magnitudeof his enterprise, which is destined to lead him through the path of dangerto glory."

Moret Fails to Upstage Lunardi
This letter was dated the 15th of July, and by the beginning of Augusthis advertisement was already before the public, inviting subscribers andannouncing a private view of his balloon at the Lyceum, where it was incourse of construction, and was being fitted with contrivances of his ownin the shape of oars and sails.  He had by this time not only enlistedthe interest of Sir George Howard, and of Sir Joseph Banks, but had securedthe direct patronage of the King.

But within a fortnight a most unforeseen mishap had occurred, whichthreatened to overwhelm Lunardi in disappointment and ruin.  A Frenchmanof the name of Moret, designing to turn to his own advertisement the attentionattracted by Lunardi's approaching trials, attempted to forestall the eventby an enterprise of his own. He announced that he would make an ascentwith a hot air balloon in some gardens near Chelsea Hospital, at a dateprevious to that fixed upon by Lunardi.  In attempting to carry outthis unworthy project, however, the adventurer met with the discomfiturehe deserved.  He failed to effect his inflation. When after fruitlessattempts continued for three hours, his balloon refused to rise, a largecrowd, estimated at 60,000, assembled outside, broke into the enclosure,committing havoc on all sides, not unattended with acts of violence androbbery.

The Public is Fearful but Demands Fair Play
The whole neighbourhood became alarmed, and it followed as a matterof course that Lunardi was peremptorily ordered to discontinue his preparations,and to announce in the public press that his ascent from Chelsea Hospitalwas forbidden.  Failure and ruin now stared the young enthusiast inthe face, and it was simply the generous feeling of the British public,and the desire to see fair play, that gave him another chance.  Asit was, he became the hero of the hour. Thousands flocked to the show roomsat the Lyceum, and he shortly obtained fresh grounds, together with needfulprotection for his project, at the hands of the Honorable Artillery Company.

By the 15th of September all incidental difficulties, the mere enumerationof which would unduly swell these pages, had been overcome by sheer persistence,and Lunardi stood in the enclosure allotted him. His preparations werein due order, with 150,000 souls, who had formed for hours a dense massof spectators, watching intently and now confidently the issue of his boldendeavour.

The Prince of Whales Calms the Crowd
His anxieties were as yet far from over, for a London crowd had neveryet witnessed a balloon ascent, while but a month ago they had seen andwreaked their wrath upon the failure of an adventurer.  They werenot likely to be more tolerant now.  And when the advertised hourfor departure had arrived, and the balloon remained inadequately inflated,matters began to take a more serious turn.  Half an hour later theyapproached a crisis, when it began to be known that the balloon still lackedbuoyancy, and that the supply of gas was manifestly insufficient. The impatience of the mob indeed was kept in restraint by one man alone. This man was the Prince of Wales who, refusing to join the company withinthe building and careless of the attitude of the crowd, remained near theballoon to check disorder and unfair treatment.

Lunardi Substitutes Passengers
An hour after time the balloon still rested inert. Then, with fineresolution, Lunardi tried one last expedient.  He bade his colleague,Mr. Biggen, who was to have ascended with him, remain behind, and quietlysubstituting a smaller and lighter wicker car, or rather gallery, tookhis place within and severed the cords just as the last gun fired. The Prince of Wales raised his hat, imitated at once by all the bystanders,and the first balloon that ever quitted English soil rose into the airamid the extravagant enthusiasm of the multitude.  The intrepid aeronaut,pardonably excited, and fearful lest he should not be seen within the gallery,made frantic efforts to attract attention by waving his flag, and workedhis oars so vigorously that one of them broke and fell.  A pigeonalso gained its freedom and escaped.  The voyager, however, stillretained companions in his venture — a dog and a cat.

The Ballooning Adventure Begins
Following his own account, Lunardi's first act on finding himself fairlyabove the town was to fortify himself with some glasses of wine, and todevour the leg of a chicken.  He describes the city as a vast beehive,St. Paul's and other churches standing out prominently. The streets shrunkto lines, and all humanity apparently transfixed and watching him. A little later he is equally struck with the view of the open country,and his ecstasy is pardonable in a novice.  The verdant pastures eclipsedthe visions of his own lands.  The precision of boundaries impressedhim with a sense of law and order, and of good administration in the countrywhere he was a sojourner.

By this time he found his balloon, which had been only two-thirds fullat starting, to be so distended that he was obliged to untie the mouthto release the strain.  He also found that the condensed moistureround the neck had frozen.  These two statements point to his havingreached a considerable altitude, which is intelligible enough.  Itis, however, difficult to believe his further assertion that by the useof his single oar he succeeded in working himself down to within a fewhundred feet of the earth.  The descent of the balloon must, in pointof fact, have been due to a copious out rush of gas at his former altitude. Had his oar really been effective in working the balloon down it wouldnot have needed the discharge of ballast presently spoken of to cause itto re-ascend.  Anyhow, he found himself sufficiently near the earthto land a passenger who was anxious to get out.  His cat had not beencomfortable in the cold upper regions, and now at its urgent appeal wasdeposited in a corn field, which was the point of first contact with theearth.  It was carefully received by a country-woman, who promptlysold it to a gentleman on the other side of the hedge, who had been pursuingthe balloon.

A Farmer Witnesses Lunardi's Temporary Descent
The first ascent of a balloon in England was deserving of some record,and an account alike circumstantial and picturesque is forthcoming. The novel and astonishing sight was witnessed by a Hertfordshire farmer,whose testimony, published by Lunardi in the same year, runs as follows: 
 

This deponent on his oath sayeth that,being on Wednesday, the 15th day of September instant, between the hoursof three and four in the afternoon, in a certain field called Etna, inthe parish of North Mimms aforesaid, he perceived a large machine sailingin the air, near the place where he was on horseback; that the machinecontinuing to approach the earth, the part of it in which this deponentperceived a gentleman standing came to the ground and dragged a short wayon the ground in a slanting direction; that the time when this machinethus touched the earth was, as near as this deponent could judge, abouta quarter before four in the afternoon.  That this deponent beingon horseback, and his horse restive, he could not approach nearer to themachine than about four poles, but that he could plainly perceive thereingentleman dressed in light coloured clothes, holding in his hand a trumpet,which had the appearance of silver or bright tin.  That by this timeseveral harvest men coming up from the other part of the field, to thenumber of twelve men and thirteen women, this deponent called to them toendeavour to stop the machine, which the men attempted, but the gentlemanin the machine desiring them to desist, and the machine moving with considerablerapidity, and clearing the earth, went off in a north direction and continuedin sight at a very great height for near an hour afterwards.  Andthis deponent further saith that the part of the machine in the which thegentleman stood did not actually touch the ground for more than half aminute, during which time the gentleman threw out a parcel of what appearedto this deponent as dry sand.  That after the machine had ascendedagain from the earth this deponent perceived a grapple with four hooks,which hung from the bottom of the machine, dragging along the ground, whichcarried up with it into the air a small parcel of loose oats, which thewomen were raking in the field.  And this deponent further on hisoath sayeth that when the machine had risen clear from the ground abouttwenty yards the gentleman spoke to this deponent and to the rest of thepeople with his trumpet, wishing them goodbye and saying that he shouldsoon go out of sight.  And this deponent further on his oath sayeththat the machine in which the gentleman came down to earth appeared toconsist of two distinct parts connected together by ropes, namely thatin which the gentleman appeared to be, a stage boarded at the bottom, andcovered with netting and ropes on the sides about four feet and a halfhigh, and the other part of the machine appeared in the shape of an urn,about thirty feet high and of about the same diameter, made of canvas likeoil skin, with green, red, and yellow stripes.

NATHANIEL WHITBREAD.

Sworn before me this twentieth day of September,1784, WILLIAM BAKER.

It was a curious fact, pointed out to the brave Italian by a resident,that the field in which the temporary descent had been made was calledindifferently Etna or Italy, "from the circumstance which attended thelate enclosure of a large quantity of roots, rubbish, etc., having beencollected there, and having continued burning for many days.  Thecommon people having heard of a burning mountain in Italy gave the fieldthat name."

Voyage Continues at Higher Altitudes and Endsin Ware
But the voyage did not end at Etna.  The, as yet, inexperiencedaeronaut now cast out all available ballast in the shape of sand, as alsohis provisions, and rising with great speed, soon reached a greater altitudethan before, which he sought to still farther increase by throwing downhis plates, knives, and forks.  In this somewhat reckless expenditurehe thought himself justified by the reliance he placed on his oar, andit is not surprising that in the end he owns that he owed his safety inhis final descent to his good fortune.  The narrative condensed concludesthus: 
 

"At twenty minutes past four I descendedin a meadow near Ware.  Some labourers were at work in it.  Irequested their assistance, but they exclaimed they would have nothingto do with one who came on the Devil's Horse, and no entreaties could prevailon them to approach me.  I at last owed my deliverance to a youngwoman in the field who took hold of a cord I had thrown out, and, callingto the men, they yielded that assistance at her request which they hadrefused to mine."

Lunardi Earns Royal Recognition
As may be supposed, Lunardi's return to London resembled a royal progress. Indeed, he was welcomed as a conqueror to whom the whole town sought todo honour, and perhaps his greatest gratification came by way of the accountshe gathered of incidents which occurred during his eventful voyage. At a dinner at which he was being entertained by the Lord Mayor and judgeshe learned that a lady seeing his falling oar, and fancying that he himselfwas dashed to pieces, received a shock thereby which caused her death. Commenting on this, one of the judges bade him be reassured, inasmuch ashe had, as if by compensation, saved the life of a young man who mightlive to be reformed.  The young man was a criminal whose condemnationwas regarded as certain at the hands of the jury before whom he was beingarraigned, when tidings reached the court that Lunardi's balloon was inthe air.  On this so much confusion arose that the jury were unableto give due deliberation to the case, and, fearing to miss the great sight,actually agreed to acquit the prisoner, that they themselves might be freeto leave the court!

But he was flattered by a compliment of a yet higher order.  Hewas told that while he hovered over London the King was in conference withhis principal Ministers, and his Majesty, learning that he was in the sky,is reported to have said to his councillors, "We may resume our own deliberationsat pleasure, but we may never see poor Lunardi again!"  On this, itis further stated that the conference broke up, and the King, attendedby Mr. Pitt and other chief officers of State, continued to view Lunardithrough telescopes as long as he remained in the horizon.

A Permanent Tribute to Lunardi is Erected
The public Press, notably the Morning Post of September 16, paid aworthy tribute to the hero of the hour, and one last act of an exceptionalcharacter was carried out in his honour, and remains in evidence to thishour.  In a meadow in the parish of Standon, near Ware, there standsa rough hewn stone, now protected by an iron rail.  It marks the spotwhere Lunardi landed, and on it is cut a legend which runs thus: