William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong
| The Lord Armstrong | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 26 November 1810 Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England |
| Died | 27 December 1900 (aged 90) Rothbury, Northumberland, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Ramshaw |
| Parent(s) | William and Anne Armstrong |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Structural |
| Institutions | British Association for the Advancement of Science (President), Royal Society (Fellow), Institution of Civil Engineers (President), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (President), North of England Mining and Mechanical Engineers (President), Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (President) |
| Significant design | hydraulic crane, hydroelectric machine, accumulator, Armstrong Gun |
| Awards | Telford Medal (1850), Albert Medal (1878), Bessemer Medal (1891) |
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong CB FRS (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor and philanthropist. In collaboration with the architect Richard Norman Shaw, he built Cragside in Northumberland, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. He is regarded as the inventor of modern artillery.
Armstrong was knighted in 1859 after giving his gun patents to the government. In 1887, in Queen Victoria's golden jubilee year, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Armstrong of Cragside, becoming the first engineer – and, indeed, the first scientist – to join the House of Lords.
Armstrong was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, at 9 Pleasant Row, Shieldfield, about a mile from the city centre. Although the house in which he was born no longer exists, an inscribed granite tablet marks the spot on which it once stood. At that time the area, next to the Pandon Dene, was rural. His father, also called William, was a corn merchant on the Newcastle quayside, who rose through the ranks of Newcastle society to become mayor of the town in 1850. An elder sister, Anne, born in 1802, was named after his mother, the daughter of Addison Potter.
Armstrong was educated at private schools in Newcastle and Whickham, near Gateshead, until he was sixteen, when he was sent to Bishop Auckland Grammar School. While there, he often visited the nearby engineering works of William Ramshaw. During his visits he met his future wife, Ramshaw’s daughter Margaret, six years his senior.
Armstrong’s father was set on him following a career in the law, and so he was articled to Armorer Donkin, a solicitor friend of his father’s. He spent five years in London studying law and returned to Newcastle in 1833. In 1835 he became a partner in Donkin’s business and the firm became Donkin, Stable and Armstrong. Armstrong married Margaret Ramshaw in 1835, and they built a house in Jesmond Dene, on the eastern edge of Newcastle. Armstrong worked for eleven years as a solicitor, but during his spare time he showed great interest in engineering.
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