23 July 1867 – 1 March 1948

Balloonist, aviator, patent agent. First Englishman to go up in an aeroplane.

Griffith Brewer was born in 1867, in London. Later, Brewer would go on to work for his father, a patent agent, in the family firm. In 1891 he moved to York to head up Brewer & Son’s office there, before moving back to London in 1899.

Brewer became interested in ballooning and made his first ascent, as a passenger, in May 1891, at the Naval Exhibition in Chelsea. He became a pupil of Percival Spenser, going on to pilot balloons for the Spenser Brothers in 1892. He piloted balloons in multiple balloon contests. Brewer competed in the first edition of the Gordon Bennett Cup, held in Paris, in 1906. In that same year he married Beatrice Swanston, and she became the first woman to cross the English Channel in a balloon. He competed in several more editions of the Gordon Bennett Cup, amongst other contests. One of Brewer’s first ballooning successes was in 1908, when he won the International Balloon Race, which started at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham.

In 1908, Brewer was invited to France to witness a demonstration of the Wright Brother’s aeroplane, the Kitty Hawk. On the 8th of October 1908, at Camp d’Auvours near Le Mans, at the invitation of Wilbur Wright, Griffith Brewer went up as a passenger in the Kitty Hawk, making him the first Englishman to go up in an aeroplane. The flight lasted 4 minutes and 22 seconds.

Brewer had been sceptical of mechanical, heavier than air flight, but these demonstrations changed his mind and he went on to become a close friend and supporter of the Wright Brothers. Brewer returned to France with Eustace and Horace Short, who were interested in moving their business from the manufacture of balloons to aeronautics, later forming Short Brothers Ltd and building several Wright biplanes under license.

Following Wilbur Wright’s death in 1912, Orville Wright entrusted Brewer with the formation of the British Wright Company. Brewer arranged the use of the Wright’s patents with the British Government, for £15,000, avoiding the threat of litigation for British aircraft manufacturers.

Brewer gained his “Ticket” – his American Pilot’s License – during one of his trips to Dayton, Ohio in 1914, before returning to England after war had been declared. Between 1915 and 1918 Brewer acted as an Honorary Advisor to the Royal Naval Air Service. He lectured twice daily to British and Allied balloon and airship officers at the Roehampton Kite Balloon Station. Following the war, Brewer returned to Brewer & Son, continuing his work as a patent agent.

Brewer gained his British Aviator’s Certificate in 1930 and bought a Gipsy Moth which he flew until 1938. He also qualified as an autogiro pilot in 1933.

Brewer was a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, having first joined in 1903, and went on to serve as society President from 1940-1942. With the society, Brewer founded the annual Wilbur Wright Lecture. He was also a founding member of the Royal Aero Club.

Through his friendship with Orville Wright, Griffith Brewer was described as having been “instrumental” in bringing the Wright’s aeroplane, the Kitty Hawk, from America to the Science Museum, in South Kensington, where it was on display between 1928 and 1948.