Bravo Brown! - Terence FitzSimons

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his letter-book.

      There are also tantalising references to other material that in all likelihood would have helped build a greater understanding of Brown’s aspirations, both for himself and aerostation. He had written a book on ←4 | 5→ballooning and, in his aeronautical correspondence, he makes reference to having submitted this work to the London publishes, William Shorberl. The manuscript was rejected; not necessarily because of any deficiency on Brown’s part as a writer. It was a work which Shorberl read with ‘considerable pleasure’ – but, as was explained, the times were ‘very inauspicious to literary speculations’. There is now no trace of that manuscript. Later, in his letters, Brown makes mention of a number of manuals he had written on the subject of aerostation, some of which were privately published, but these documents too have vanished. All of this correspondence was entered into at a time when the craft of aerostation was beginning to exciting a degree of scientific interest outside of its coterie of enthusiasts.

      We have only a few early biographical details of Brown and, in his Aeronautica, he does little to enlighten the reader as to his youth in Leeds. By reference to other sources we can identify his father, Benjamin Brown, a bookkeeper who married Hannah Higgins in St Peter’s Church, Leeds, in April 1823. The couples’ first child, Edwin, was born in June of the following year, with Charles Henry Brown arriving two years later, though apparently undocumented, registration of births not then being required by law, the task falling to the local clergyman – the matter dependent on his diligence.

      Undoubtedly Brown received a sound education, a fact shown by his neat handwriting and his competent use of language. His father intended this son should follow a career as a clerk, ideally in a permanent and pensionable position. However, the young Brown was already in the process of building up an extensive library of aeronautical literature as well as a number of illustrations.

      Conquest of the air had been demonstrated by the French brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. In 1782 they had sent aloft their hot air balloon. The first manned flight followed in 1783. Again it was two pioneer Frenchmen, De Rozier and the Marquis de A’landes, who made that balloon ascent. The title ‘aeronaut’ came to be applied to all such aerial adventurers.

      Aerostation was introduced into Britain in September of the following year by an Italian, Vincenzo Lunardi. This novelty elicited a bevy of mixed responses; indifference, ridicule, through the new art was embraced by ←5 | 6→an enthusiastic few. Young Charles Henry Brown was a member of this last group.

      Brown senior was passionately opposed to his son’s evident commitment to aerostation. He called upon his friend, William Russum, to help him persuade young Charles to give up his ridiculous idea. Russum, himself a well know aeronaut, had latterly fallen upon hard times and had become disenchanted with the calling. His negative assessment of aerostation’s future did nothing to dissuade the young Brown who declared, ‘I am determined I will be an aeronaut.’ We know little of Brown’s mother’s reaction to her son’s avowed intention to take to the air, though in later correspondence we are told she was curious as to his exploits in Australia.

      By 1847 Brown had secured a position as a clerk in the postal services and on 5 September that year he married Eliza Hartley. The first and indirect mention of this lady occurs as late as October 1849, and then merely by a correspondent’s reference to Brown’s ‘good lady’. Nor do Brown’s six children receive any mention. Frederick (1850), Annie (1852), Eugene (1854), Herbert (1857), Vincent (1859) and Miriam (1862) all arrive without comment, and the particulars of Herbert’s infant death (1859) also passes unremarked. But as already suggested, Brown’s Aeronautica was not intended to serve as a domestic narrative.

      The material in the correspondence introduces the reader to many aviation enthusiasts and prominent balloonists of the time. The people with whom Brown came to work and corresponded with were men who, like himself, had a vision for the future of manned flight: The Englishman, Henry Tracey Coxwell, the American, John Wise, the Irishman, Doctor Joseph Mac Sweeney and Brown’s early mentor, John Hampton, a Yorkshireman. Brown makes reference to his extensive library of works on aerostation, and he was constantly on the hunt for contemporary and historical material to enable him to expand his collection.

      While those who actively practised ballooning proudly identified themselves as aeronauts, they were not a group without their petty rivalries and jealousies. There existed a marked disharmony between those who looked upon their craft as a science and others who viewed their undertaking as an entertainment. Notwithstanding these differences it becomes clear in the correspondence that both parties were mindful of a trinity of ←6 | 7→prerequisites: the need for a good location for their ascents, the prospect of a large and appreciative audience and good press coverage. The whole summed up as ‘place, population and press’. And there were the elite few who chose to add a fourth requirement, ‘purpose’, to that list.

      It is evident that the aeronauts Hampton and Coxwell looked to Brown, as an enthusiast and competent writer, to act as a de facto agent, advancing their interests and editing their promotional material.

      Although Brown’s correspondence reveals a great deal of the man himself, and not just his aspirations, we are left to imagine his wife Eliza either as compliant spouse, or an adventurous companion. Brown does record that Eliza ascended with him on a number of occasions. He also reveals himself as a man of spirit, endowed with a firmness of manner, so as not to be bullied by those he imagined were taking advantage of him. The reader discovers that on a number of occasions Brown, believing he had been unfairly dealt with, was prepared to deal with others as roughly as he imagined himself to have been treated.

      The letters record two distinct phases in Brown’s aeronautical endeavours: his initiation into the craft in England and his subsequent venture in Australia. In the former he gives a clear indication of his desire to make a solo ascent and, in this regard, is encouraged by Henry Coxwell, and less effusively by John Hampton. Yet, for all his effort in England, Brown effectively became no more than Coxwell’s agent. In fairness to Coxwell he did later recommend Brown for the position of balloonist at the Melbourne Cremorne Pleasure Gardens. This engagement was first offered to Coxwell by the Australian based entrepreneur and entertainer, George Coppin. However, having been pressured by his wife to refuse the position, Coxwell then suggested Brown for the role.

      Brown’s acceptance of the offer resulted in some questionable dealings regarding the supply of balloons to Coppin. Having ordered two new balloons, Coppin was persuaded to settle for one refurbished and one new balloon. The former, the Tavistock, was a poor flyer and the latter, the Australasian, a hastily built and untested craft. Notwithstanding this Brown imagined his success in Australia as being beyond doubt and he arranged his journey to the Antipodes with a sense of expectation greater than the circumstances warranted.

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      Nothing in Brown’s correspondence gives any indication he had the slightest idea that he was likely to be met in Melbourne by a public which, if not hostile to his venture, was at least indifferent. The later successful flight of the Australasian from Cremorne Gardens was reported in the Melbourne papers as an item of entertainment; only ‘condescending mention was made of the triumph of science’. The single correspondence to appear in the newspaper columns after the initial ascents from the Gardens was a letter from the poet and a would-be politician, Richard. H. Horne, who had once written an article on ballooning for Charles Dickens Household Words, and who now expressed the faintly encouraging opinion that ‘ballooning may, one day or other, assist in the progress of science’.

      When he arrived in Australia Brown had high hopes that the opportunity to undertake aerial exploration of the country’s interior would be offered him. It never was. In truth Brown was unsuccessful in many of his endeavours, but he is nonetheless representative of a group of some importance. So, while receiving no more than an occasional mention in aeronautical history, and having failed to fully realise his aspirations, the correspondence of this relatively obscure person provides a meaningful contribution to the history of aviation, and the letters that Charles Henry Brown compiled serve as his true memorial.

      * * *

      To avoid misunderstanding, I have elected not to use Brown’s title Aeronautica as an introduction to his correspondence.

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