My family history

by Pamela Taylor on 06/08/2010, 10.20am

I have now received details of my forthcoming balloon flight and am now getting quite excited about it.

Whilst researching my family history I discovered that my great grandfather Alfred Orton had his own balloon called the Endeavour and he used to go to fetes all over the country with Adelaide Bassett who used to sit on a swing attached to the balloon and used to parachute jump from the swing!!!  Alfred had been balloon for many years.  He first went up in a balloon when he was 8 years old.  This was with my great great grandfather Reuben Davison Orton (his father).

Reuben Davison Ortons balloon was called the Princess Alexandra.  He had been ballooning since the late 1850s and used to take scientists in his balloon to measure the weather and atmospheric conditions.  He also used other balloons for pleasure where he would take his with Charlotte and some of his children with him to various events and fetes throughout the country where there would balloon races.