A monkey called Jenny parachuted from a hot air balloon on the evening of June 15th 1868 and landed safely in Ouseburn.
The balloon was piloted by the famous aeronaut Henry Tracey Coxwell who had made several previous ascents over Newcastle. Coxwell was keen to demonstrate the safety of parachuting, but he evidently didn’t consider it safe enough to make the jump himself. A series of adverts appeared in the Newcastle Journal in the week before his ascent, asking for the loan of a monkey to be dropped from his balloon instead.
Jenny was provided to him by Robert Cairns, landlord of the Coach & Horses on Blenheim Street, a pub that later became the Broken Doll. A huge crowd gathered at the Cricket Ground, roughly where the City Hall is now, as she was placed in the basket of the balloon alongside Coxwell and a passenger who’d paid a fiver for the ride. A label was fastened to Jenny, offering a reward to whoever found her.
The balloon took off shortly after six in the evening to roars of approval from the crowd and drifted in an easterly direction. It had reached a height of half a mile when Jenny was jettisoned and descended into the Ouseburn Valley, where she was found by a local urchin who read the label and was quick to claim his reward.
The balloon continued its journey, crossing the river near Walker and coming to rest in Jarrow an hour or so later. Jenny was reportedly none the worse for her adventure.