James Sadler (balloonist)

Sadler worked as a pastry chef in the family business, The Lemon Hall Refreshment House, a small shop in Oxford.

[1] Sadler was the second person to make a balloon ascent in England, very soon after the Tuscan Vincent Lunardi's flight on 15 September 1784 in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company at Moorfields.

[3] In May of the following year he took off near Moulsey Hurst, Surrey, accompanied by W. Wyndham MP, hoping to reach France, but in fact descending in the Thames Estuary, and thus failing to repeat the earlier exploit of Jean-Pierre Blanchard and his passenger.

On this occasion, he sustained bad injuries after being dragged for around two miles (3 km) by the balloon, which eventually threw him clear before taking off again empty.

"[1] A public square in Manchester was named after Sadler on 8 September 2015 by NOMA, which is a neighbourhood being developed in partnership by The Co-operative Group and Hermes Investment Management.