Charles "Balloony" Brown (1800-1869) became the second person to make a balloon ascent from Sheffield in August 1824. The Sheffield Mercury and Family Newspaper advertised and carried an account of the ascent.
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Charles Brown evidently maintained his interest in Ballooning for many years as according to Thomas Fordyce (Local Records Volume 3):
On
24th August 1838 Mr. Brown,
the aeronaut, of Sheffield, made an
ascent from the enclosure in Green-court, Newcastle, in his splendid
balloon "The North Star." The gas was supplied from Clayton-street and
Newgate-street. The process of inflation was completed soon after
three o'clock, and the cords loosened which restrained its aerial
flight. The balloon cleared the houses beautifully on rising, and
then
proceeded in a south-easterly direction, in full view of
thousands of
spectators, who watched its progress with intense interest.
(According to the Sheffield Local register the first ascent of a balloon from Sheffield was made by a Mr Sadler on 18 September 1823.)
According to the Brown Family Tree produced by Jackson, Charles Brown was a slate merchant but elsewhere he described as being a steel refiner (1841 Census), saw manufacturer/maker (1851 Census & 1854 Marriage Certificate), a saw and steel manufacturer (1861 Census) and a steel manufacturer (Death Certificate). He conducted business from Bailey Lane (Sheffield & 20 Miles Around, 1852 & Drakes Commercial Directory, 1863).
Charles Brown was the sixth of nine children born to Roger and Sarah (nee Hibbard) Brown. He married Agnes Beaumont c1820. They had eight children who were born between 1821 and 1838. He died in York at the residence of his son-in-law Mr Webster, his daughter Mary's husband, on 23 May 1869 (notices in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph and the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent).