Fireworks and firemasters of England, 1662–1856

The origin and facts of some early firework-rocket history are related mainly as applied to Restoration England. The two facets of its management, the tending to the details of compositions for rocket propulsion and to the actual shooting of rockets, are identified in the titles “Fireworkers” and “Firemasters”. A fine example of the art of the latter was the triumphal celebration of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which we describe noting a small part for Benjamin Robins. The little known works of Sir Martin Beckman, Colonel H. J. Hopkey and Sir William Congreve are recalled. Rockets in firework displays, though once used on occasions of national celebration in a manner seldom remembered today, were discontinued in 1856 with the end of the Crimean War.Essentially, this paper continues some of the themes of W. Johnson, The rise and fall of early war rockets, in Int. J. Impact Engng15(4), 365 (1994); Congreve's details of the rocket system and the Artillery Museum in the Rotunda at Woolwich, London, in Int. J. Impact Engng (in press) (1994); and S. Clyens and W. Johnson, Fra Leipzig til London or from Leipzig to London: a translation from the Danish, in Int. J. Impact Engng (in press) (1994).