Armstrong Family

Adam Pearson Armstrong

Adam Pearson Armstrong was born 23 February 1788 in Smeaton House near Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, and died 28 September 1853 in Ravenswood, WA. He married Margaret Gow (daughter of Nathaniel Gow [son of Niel Gow, famous fiddler] and Janet Fraser) 16 October 1810 in Newington Cottage, Drum Coalery, Liberton Parish, Midlothian, Scotland. She was born 15 May 1785 in Dalkeith, Midlothian, and died 28 December 1824 in Drummond Street, Camden, London. (Ward)

Francis Fraser Armstrong

Francis Fraser Armstrong (son of Adam Pearson Armstrong and Margaret Gow) was born 22 February 1813 in St Cuthberts, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, and died 22 May 1897 in Perth. He married Mary Ann Mews (daughter of Thomas William Warren Mews and Mary Elizabeth Bogg). She was born on 19 February 1819 in Bermondsey, Surrey, and died 26 April 1886 in Perth. (Ward) They had twelve children.

Adam William Armstrong

Adam William Armstrong (1852-1915) was the second son of Francis Fraser Armstrong. He was not only a publican, but also a customs officer.
He died at 19 Canning Road East Fremantle where he lived with his second wife, Mary (née Cass). She continued to live there until 1925, but died in 1926 at Thornbury, 37 Bedford Street East Fremantle.
The photo (right) shows Adam on the left with his father Francis.

Nathaniel Mews Armstrong

Nathaniel was the youngest son of fourteen children, born in 1855 to Francis Fraser Armstrong and Mary Ann Mews. He was a photographer. His father was a collector for the Perth city council and local interpreter for the indigenous population. Nathaniel was named after one of his Scottish ancestors, Nathaniel Gow, who was a prominent composer back in their homeland. His father Francis, arrived in the Swan River colony, from Edinburgh, aboard the Gilmour in 1829.

References, Links, Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Rob Ward for an invaluable and comprehensive genealogy of the Armstrong family.

Many thanks to Alan Thompson for information about the Armstrongs, and for the photo of FFA. Alan informs me that Hitchcock is wrong to give Adam Armstrong the rank of 'Captain'. And also that the photo of 'Adam Armstrong 1830' in Hitchcock's History is in fact a photo of his son of the same name. (personal communication)

Erickson, Rica 1987, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, UWAP.

Hitchcock, JK 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Thompson, Alan 2015, The Interpreter: The Legacy of Francis Fraser Armstrong, Hons dissertation, Murdoch University.

Wikipedia entry for Francis Armstrong.

'Death of Mr F. F. Armstrong', West Australian, 24 May 1897, p. 2.

Page for Adam William Armstrong at streetsofeastfreo.

Re Nathaniel Mews Armstrong, see Shelley Tonkin's invaluable History of WA Photography.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 29 March, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/armstrong.html (it was last updated on 26 March, 2023). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.

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