Bridport’s Balloon Mystery

When a Member of Parliament disappeared in December 1881 off the coast at Eype’s Mouth, near Bridport, it made the national news. What was unusual was that Walter Powell MP was the sole occupant of a balloon. It was named ‘Saladin’ and filled with coal gas. Rumour has it that so much coal gas was needed that the people of Bath had to do without. Walter Powell had taken off from Bath to carry out research for the Meteorological Society accompanied by friends Arthur Agg-Gardner and Captain James Templar.

They had flown over Glastonbury, Crewkerne and Beaminster. Approaching Bridport, at around 35mph, they realised they were heading in a direction that would take them out to sea. Anxiously hearing the roar of the sea, Templar opened a valve to allow gas to escape to make a hurried emergency descent. They landed heavily and Powell’s two passengers fell out with Arthur Agg-Gardner breaking his leg. The Parliamentarian remained in the basket and the balloon much lighter took off again. It rose rapidly taking Walter Powell out to sea. He was last seen waving to his two friends as he disappeared from view.

Born into a wealthy family, his father was reckoned to be the largest coal exporter in the world and a particularly ruthless businessman and employer.

Walter Powell’s previous balloon flights had not been uneventful. Taking off from Ashford in Kent he planned to cross the English Channel. However, he was to arrive in Salisbury because the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Walter Powell had a passion for flying balloons for which he was to pay a high price.

His family announced in the Bridport News that a reward would be paid for the recovery of the missing gentleman - dead or alive. The Member of Parliament for Malmesbury was never seen again.

Walter Powell’s disappearance was big news and there were claimed sightings of the balloon in Devon, on the Channel Islands and off Cherbourg. There was even an unlikely claimed sighting in Montrose, Scotland. Two years later, the remains of a ballon were discovered in the Pyrenees on the Spanish/French border.

It was two years before Walter Powell was replaced as the Member of Parliament for Malmesbury.

(Credit: Bridport Museum.)

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