‘King of all Balloons’: James Sadler, Oxford pastry cook and first English aeronaut

Thursday 19 January

St Edmund Hall (Queen’s Lane)

Coffee/tea 7.30pm, talk 8pm

James Sadler (1753-1828) is noted in Oxford as the pioneer of hot-air ballooning. But he also spent 25 years as a designer of engines and armaments and as Chemist to the Royal Navy. Local historian Mark Davies will explore Sadler’s remarkable life and achievements.