The Vauxhall Royal Balloon

The first ascent of Charles Green’s Royal Vauxhall balloon (later called the "Nassau") was on September 9, 1836 from Vauxhall Gardens. Nine passengers were aboard the oval wicker car carried by the balloon. These included Charles Green and his wife, his brother James, Robert Holland, and six others. The balloon held 70,000 cubic feet of gas. In less than five minutes, the balloon had reached a height of 13,000 feet and after an hour and a half, Green landed near Cliffe, about five miles from Gravesend.

Charles Green (1785-1870) was one of the 19th century’s most celebrated aeronauts. He made over 500 ascents in his career, primarily in his native England. These ascents included the first voyage in a balloon filled with coal-gas. Most of Green’s ascents were made in his Royal Vauxhall Balloon. Among these was an 18 hour, 480 mile journey undertaken in November 1836 from Vauxhall Gardens in London to Nassau in Germany. Green was accompanied on this record-breaking trip by Robert Hollond and Monck Mason. Thereafter, the Vauxhall Balloon was known as the “Nassau” or “Royal Nassau” balloon. In 1840 Green proposed a cross-Atlantic flight which generated much publicity but never took place. Charles Green was also involved in the tragic death of amateur parachutist Robert Cocking, whose fatal descent was made from the Nassau balloon piloted by Green. He retired from ballooning in 1852.