Background
He was the eldest son of Charles Green Spencer (1837–1880), who was the son of Edward Spencer (1799–1849).
solicitor pioneering balloonist
He was the eldest son of Charles Green Spencer (1837–1880), who was the son of Edward Spencer (1799–1849).
Spencer was part of the third generation of a family of professional balloonists. Edward Spencer, a solicitor, was a friend and trusted assistant of the noted balloonist Charles Green, ascending with Green 27 times and soloing 40 times. Charles Spencer founded the balloon manufacturing firm of C. G. Spencer & Sons.
All five of Percival"s siblings also followed the family profession.
Percival first ascended in a balloon at the age of eight with his father over the Crystal Palace. In a November 1909 letter to the editor of Flight magazine, he claimed to have made eight "Cross-Sea Balloon Voyages", often with passengers.
His February 1898 crossing from England to France, accompanied by Pearson"s Magazine journalist George Griffith, was reported in The New York Times. On 19 March 1889, he made the first successful balloon flight in India.
Ram Chandra Chatterjee took lessons from him and flew with him on 10 April, becoming the first Indian aeronaut to fly solo later that same month.
The same year, he was the first to parachute safely in Ireland, at Drumcondra.