The ascent of hydrogen and hot-air balloons was a popular attraction at London's pleasure gardens during the 19th century. This shows crowds at Chelsea's Cremorne Gardens in July 1864 watching the ascent of Eugène Godard's giant balloon 'The Eagle'. The French balloonist Eugène Godard (1827-1890) made his first balloon flight in 1847 in a balloon he made himself and went on to have a long career as a balloonist, initially in Europe but also in the United States which he visited in 1854 and 1856. Godard supervised plans for observation balloon operations in the 1859 war between France and Austria. In 1870 he built a series of balloons to carry people and messages from besieged Paris and his efforts were recognized by his Emperor, Napoléon III, with the title 'The Aeronaut of the Emperor'.

Godard built 'The Eagle' himself. It was a Montgolfier or fire-balloon, heated by an 18 foot stove, weighing 890lbs with the chimney, and fed by straw. With a capacity of nearly half a million cubic feet, it was twice as big as the largest gas balloon constructed in 1863 in Paris by the photographer Nadar and flown by Louis and Jules Godard from the Champ de Mars. Godard made two ascents from Cremorne Gardens - the first on 20th July when it descended at Greenwich, and the second on the 28th when it descended at Walthamstow. It was the first balloon flight of its type seen in London, and only the second in the country.