James Sadler (February 1753 – 28 March 1828) was the first English
balloonist
In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that ...
, as well as a
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
and
pastry chef
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...
.
Life
Sadler worked as a
pastry chef
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...
in the family business, The Lemon Hall Refreshment House, a small shop in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
Sadler was the second person to make a balloon ascent in England, very soon after the Tuscan
Vincent Lunardi's flight on 15 September 1784 in the grounds of the
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...
at
Moorfields
Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...
. James Sadler was still the first English Aeronaut, making his ascent the following month, on 4 October 1784 from
Christ Church Meadow,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. The balloon rose to about and landed near
Woodeaton
Woodeaton or Wood Eaton is a village and civil parish about northeast of Oxford, England. It also has a special needs school called Woodeaton Manor School.
Archaeology
There was a Romano-Celtic temple north of where the parish church now stand ...
, around away.
Sadler's second ascent occurred on 12 November, this time in a hydrogen-filled balloon. It reached
Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire after a twenty-minute flight.
In May of the following year he took off near
Moulsey Hurst
Moulsey Hurst is in West Molesey, Surrey on the south bank of the River Thames above Molesey Lock. It is one of England's oldest sporting venues and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries for cricket, prizefighting and other sports. This are ...
, Surrey, accompanied by W. Wyndham MP, hoping to reach France, but in fact descending in the Thames Estuary, and thus failing to repeat the earlier exploit of
Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Jean-Pierre rançoisBlanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer of gas balloon flight, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the air in a balloon, in particular the first crossing of the Englis ...
and his passenger.
Sadler made two further ascents in May 1785, the first of which was from a field behind a gentleman's garden on the site of what is now Balloon Street in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. On this flight he was accompanied by a cat and landed in
Radcliffe
Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to:
Places
* Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan
United Kingdom
* Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town
** Radcliffe tram stop
* ...
.
On his second ascent he travelled alone and, having risen to , travelled before landing near
Pontefract
Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wak ...
, West Yorkshire. On this occasion, he sustained bad injuries after being dragged for around by the balloon, which eventually threw him clear before taking off again empty.
Sadler was appointed Chemist in 1796 in the newly created Naval Works Department under
Sir Samuel Bentham. Although the post was only abolished in 1807, he had major disagreements with Bentham and carried out few works. His most important invention was that of the
table steam engine.
[J. E. Hodgson, 'James Sadler of Oxford', ''Trans. Newcomen Society'', 8,1927–8, 66–82: BL Add. MS 40221 f. 272, Add. MS 37888 f. 161: Science Museum library Goodrich MS C11] Sadler was responsible for improvements to cannon design, from the barrel to the shot used, to improve accuracy; for which he was praised by
Admiral Lord Nelson.
He resumed his ballooning activities although he was devastated by the death of his younger son,
Windham William Sadler, in a ballooning accident in 1824.
James Sadler is buried at the church of
St Peter-in-the-East in Oxford, now part of the college
St Edmund Hall.
Legacy
Although a celebrity in his own time, Sadler is largely unknown today. This has been partly attributed to his lack of writing any works and partly to class prejudice: he was only a pastry chef and not formally educated. Despite being a resident of Oxford and an accomplished scientist, the
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
mostly ignored him and academics looked down on him. While obituaries for Sadler were written elsewhere on his death, the university's own newspaper wrote simply, "Mr James Sadler, elder brother of Mr Sadler of Rose Hill, Oxford, has died."
A public square in Manchester was named after Sadler on 8 September 2015 by
NOMA
Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to:
Places
* NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US
** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro
* Noma, Florida, US
* NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England
* Noma Distr ...
, which is a neighbourhood being developed in partnership by The Co-operative Group and Hermes Investment Management. The square is named
Sadler's Yard and is near to Balloon Street.
Selected balloon ascents
* 7 July 1810: at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, on the occasion of the installation of
Lord Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...
as
Chancellor at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
.
* September 1810: from
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, with the chemist
William Clayfield, landing safely near
Combe Martin
Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park.
Due to the narrowness of the ...
in the
Bristol Channel.
* 29 August 1811: from
Hackney to
East Thorpe in Essex (near
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
), with
Henry Beaufoy
Henry Beaufoy (November 1750 – 17 May 1795) was a British Member of Parliament.
Life
Beaufoy was the son of a Quaker wine merchant; after marrying, he conformed to the Church of England. He was educated at Hoxton Academy and Warrington Aca ...
(1786–1851); a number of experiments were performed.
* 7 October 1811: a speed record during a gale, travelling over in about 1 hour 20 minutes.
* 1 October 1812: from Belvedere House near
Drumcondra, Ireland, attempting to cross the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
; he almost drowned in the attempt but was finally picked up by a fishing boat, in the Irish Channel, off Liverpool.
The Kaleidoscope or Literary and Scientific Mirror
', Volume 5, 1825, p 116.
References
Further reading
* Mark Davies: ''King of all balloons : the adventurous life of James Sadler, the first English aeronaut'', Stroud, Gloucestershire : Amberley
015
*Jane Browne
art 1 of biographical novel based on life & adventures of James Sadler ''The Oxford Aeronaut Part 1: from Cooking to Chemistry''
*Jane Browne
art 2 of biographical novel, based on life 7 adventures of James Sadler ''The Oxford Aeronaut Part 2: The King of Ballooning''
*Richard O Smith
utobiography with biography of James Sadler ''The Man With HIs Head in the Clouds ''
External links
Pennine Region Balloon Association: James Sadler* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151025114410/http://www.signalbooks.co.uk/2014/04/the-man-with-his-head-in-the-clouds/ The Man With his Head in the Clouds: James Sadler, The First Englishman to Fly by Richard O. Smith]
The Oxford Aeronaut part 1: From Cooking to Chemistry by Jane BrowneThe Oxford Aeronaut part 2: King of Ballooning by Jane Browne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadler, James
1753 births
1828 deaths
English balloonists
History of Oxford
English inventors
Balloon flight record holders
British aviation pioneers
British aviation record holders
Pastry chefs
English chefs
Male chefs
18th-century English chemists
19th-century English chemists