First fictional British astronaut?

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A follow-up to yesterday's post: what was the first fictional depiction of a British astronaut? The earliest one I can think of is HG Wells' The First Men in the Moon (1901) featuring Bedford and Cavor.

Cavor and Bedford were of course on a private expedition. Was there any depiction of an official British human spaceflight programme before 1953's

Comments

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And here's an illo...

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Forgot to say that Griffith's spaceship was privately owned, Cole's ships were government owned.

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Also forgot to say that the three characters aboard the Griffith ship are a Lord, his new (American) bride, and a faithful retainer from darkest Yorkshire. So an early woman in space too!