author
Henry Tracey Coxwell
1819–1900
A Victorian ballooning pioneer, he turned a youthful fascination with flight into a career that helped push balloon travel to dramatic new heights. He is especially remembered for daring ascents with meteorologist James Glaisher, including one of the most famous high-altitude balloon flights of the 19th century.
2 Audiobooks
My life and balloon experiences : With a supplementary chapter on military ballooning
by Henry Tracey Coxwell
A knight of the air : or, The aerial rivals
by Henry Tracey Coxwell
About the author
Born in Kent in 1819, Henry Tracey Coxwell first trained and worked as a dentist before giving himself fully to ballooning. From the 1840s onward he became one of Britain's best-known professional aeronauts, making ascents around the British Isles and on the Continent at a time when balloon flight was still risky, public, and full of wonder.
His name is most often linked with meteorologist James Glaisher. Together they carried out scientific balloon ascents in the 1860s, gathering observations from the upper atmosphere and helping popularize the idea that ballooning could serve science as well as spectacle. Their 1862 ascent became legendary after the pair reached such an extreme height that Glaisher lost consciousness and Coxwell had to act quickly to save them.
He also wrote about his experiences, leaving behind vivid accounts of early ballooning and the people drawn to it. For listeners interested in adventure, invention, and the bold spirit of the Victorian age, his life offers all three.