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CHAPTER 3 1847

From Joseph MacSweeny Esq. M. D., Cork, August 26, 1847.

Another extended break in Brown’s recorded correspondence though clearly he had continued as an avid enquirer into aeronautical matters. The Irishman, MacSweeny, was himself an enthusiast, though he had no practical experience as an aeronaut. His essay on ‘Aerial Navigation’ had earned plaudits in scientific circles.

I received you letter enclosing a list of aeronauts, and have to return thanks for your kindness in sending it. Since my essay appeared, I have also gleaned from the papers the names of many aeronauts.

The price of Dr Forster’s annals I do not know. The full title of the work is Annals of some remarkable aerial and alpine voyages to which are added observations on the partial deafness to which aerial and mountain travellers are liable, and an essay on the flight and migration of birds, the whole being intended as supplementary to researches about atmospheric phenomenon. 8° London, 1802. A likely place to get the work would be the house of Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Gardens.

I am not aware that Mr W. Sadler published an account of his voyage in 1817 in the form of a pamphlet. Have you any details of the ascent of De Luc noticed in page twenty-eight of my essay? In what work is the ascent of M. Bralpont noticed? There is a name in the list I cannot well make out. Is the name of the person who ascended from the Hague in 1785 Honenbrinsein?¹ In what work is there an account of his voyage?

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Have you any of the details of the voyage of Mr Livingston with Miss Thompson in 1817, or of the ascent of Reichard with P. Muskan? The ascent of Lumordis’ servant from Chester is in Monck Mason’s work.

If you were to send the plan of you parachute to the editor of the Mechanic’s Magazine, I dare say he would give it in the magazine. You state that you intend to send me a list of accents. I should be glad to see anything relating to Aerostation. Do you think that the problem of directing balloons is solved by the plan of warping?

I perceive, by comparing my list with yours, that I have some ascents which are not in your list. I will send a statement of them to you if you wish. I believe that Madame Arban made an ascent as well as her husband, have you any account of a voyage by her.

From Joseph MacSweeny Esq. M. D, Cork, September 13, 1847.

I am glad to be able to send you the names of some aeronauts to add to your list. Richard Crosbie ascended from Limerick on the 27th of April 1786. He descended in the County Clare, at a place about 14 miles from Limerick. Mr Sadler Jnr ascended from Cork on the 2nd of September 1816, and descended near Carrigaline, about six miles from Cork. Mr William Bain ascended with Mr Hampton from Dublin on the 9th of September 1846, and on the 15th of the same month Mr Cooke and Mr Walker ascended with him from Dublin. Mr Henry Vereker, Mr Stephen Keays, and W. J. Miller ascended with Mr Hampton from Limerick on the 5th of October 1846, they descended near Limerick. Capt. Maddocks, 13th Light dragoons, and Capt. Morris, 17th Lancers ascended with Hampton from Dublin on the 25th of August 1847. Capt. Forde, of the 4th Light Dragoons, ascended with him from Dublin on the 6th of September 1847.

For my next communication I shall have for you additional information relating to some English and foreign aeronauts. In all the above voyages from Dublin the descents were made within a few miles of Dublin.

The ascent of Mr Green from Weymouth should have been noted. It was an error of the press which was not noticed until it was too late to have it corrected. Richard Crosbie, who ascended from Limerick, was the same person who made the first ascent in Ireland in 1785.²

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From Joseph MacSweeny Esq. M. D, Cork, October 8, 1847.

I received you letter containing the card and extracts from papers. I had previously received the list of ascents, for all which I have to return thanks. The Earl of Munster ascended from London in 1845 with Mr Green. I have mislaid the note I took at the time, but I think that the ascent was in August 1845. Garnerin made a night ascent from Paris on the 16th of August 1808. He landed on the following morning at Broussig in the Department of Mense, 280 miles from Paris. A man came to his assistance, but the wind being strong the balloon escaped from them, and Garnerim had to return to Paris without his balloon. This account is from the Dublin Monthly Pantheon for November 1808. Of Guille’s parachute descent I only saw a brief notice in an American magazine, the particulars were not given.

On the 27th of September 1847 Dr Van Necke and M. Dupuis-Delcourt ascended from Brussels to try the effect of some machinery to raise and depress a balloon without the loss of gas or of ballast. No good result (it would appear) was got from the contrivance, the plan of Dr Van Neck. He required Dupuis-Delcourt to have recourse to the valve to cause the descent. On the car touching the ground Van Necke jumped out, the balloon freed from his weight rose with Dupuis-Delcourt who descended on the evening of the same day in the Commune de Vierves, Contou de Couvin, province de Namur.

Have you the particulars of the voyage of the Rev. Mr Gregg from Belfast? I will feel thankful if you would send me any account of any works on Aerostation. I hope in my next to have for you some additional matter relating to the science about which you are so interested.

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1 For ‘Bralpont’ read ‘de Breuitpont’ and ‘Honenbrinsein’ read ‘d’Honnicthein’. They ascended with Blanchard from the Hague in Holland, July 12, 1785. The owner of the land in which they alighted claimed the balloon as his property and demanded ten ducats from Blanchard who gave him a note written in French which the landowner imagined was a bill for the value of ten ducats, but discovered his mistake on presenting the note.

2 Richard Crosbie made his first ascent at Dublin, January 14, 1875.