The Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey form a major chapter in the history of explosives in England. Waltham Abbey Powder Mills were among the earliest powder manufactories in the country, and continued existing as an explosives factory for some three hundred years. This book documents the lives of some of the more colourful personnel employed at the Mills during the period from 1787 to 1841. Its production was initiated by Lynne Lennard, the former General Manager of the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills. This is an easy-reading companion volume to our more technical "Workforce of the Royal Gunpowder Mills: 1787-1841." Both are based on the considerable volume of Personnel Records held in the National Archives and on documents and images held within the Archive of the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills.