A VICTORIAN NEIL ARMSTRONG: JAMES GLAISHER (1809-1903)

Probably the highest view over London WGL ever experienced was from the Monument in the City, a mere 202 feet (62m) above the street. While other structures were taller (Big Ben’s tower at 315 feet and St. Paul’s dome at 365 feet) a few hundred feet of steps was the most a Victorian Londoner could expect to climb to get a view of the greatest metropolis in the world. In 1862 however, one of WGL’s friends became the highest man in human history, reaching through the clouds above London. He wore the same bushy ‘chin fringe’ beard as WGL but was twenty years his senior. This adventurer’s name was James Glaisher.

James Glaisher

Aeronaut James Glaisher 1809-1903

     It would have been in the late 1850s, through the West Kent Natural History Society, that WGL first became acquainted with Glaisher who also lived in Blackheath. A blue plaque on No.20 Dartmouth Hill reads “James Glaisher 1809-1903, Astronomer, Meteorologist and pioneer of weather forecasting lived here.”

    In an age of gentleman explorers, Glaisher became famous for his ballooning exploits, memorialized (with a lavish dollop of artistic license) in the 2019 movie “The Aeronauts”. On September 5^th, 1862, Glaisher’s ascent into the depths of the ‘aerial ocean’ and up to 37,000 feet almost killed him (he passed out around 29,000 ft) but the new height broke all previous records. Saved by his pilot Henry Coxwell, the two men were closer to the sun than any other human ever. The shadow of the balloon on the clouds below was “surrounded by a kind of corona tinted with prismatic colour.” *1 Today, at 37,000 feet Glaisher would be trying to avoid jumbo jets on their descent and approach into Heathrow.

James Glaisher with his scientific instruments (left) and pilot Henry Coxwell

     The observations Glaisher made in the 1860s became crucial to our understanding of weather. For example, he discovered how raindrops form and gather moisture as they hurtle towards Earth.

     The daring September balloon voyage had taken off from Wolverhampton but several of Glaisher’s subsequent 21 flights ascended from Greenwich Park, next to Blackheath. Just one month later, now a local hero, Glaisher gave a talk to the West Kent Natural History Society about his adventures. He was one of the Society’s Vice-Presidents and WGL was one of the 12 councilors. WGL was also headmaster of the Mission School where the society held its meetings (and the building where he and his family lived) so he would certainly have attended such an exciting evening. It was recorded to be a very crowded meeting with many ladies present.

Glaisher flew over London at night in 1865, the closest a man had ever got to the moon and stars.