Biography

“Landed families of Britain and Ireland - Heaton-Armstrong family of Farney Castle and Mount Heaton” < link >

The founder of the family was Sir Thomas Armstrong, kt. (1603?-62), who came from a Scots border background and was perhaps fairly closely related to the forbears of the Armstrongs of County Offaly. Sir Thomas was an ardent Royalist soldier, who came to Ireland in about 1639 and was knighted by the Duke of Ormonde in 1644. He sat in the Irish Parliament in 1647 and had a grant of land in County Dublin, but was back in England in the 1650s, participating in Royalist conspiracies and being twice imprisoned in the Tower of London. At the Restoration in 1660 he resumed his post as a Colonel of Horse, but he died soon afterwards. His two sons followed in his footsteps.

Family

Armstrong, Col. Sir Thomas (1603?-62), kt. Perhaps the son of William Armstrong (1565-1649) of Gilnockie and his wife Margaret, daughter of Humphrey Elliot, born about 1603. He served in The Netherlands, 1633-38; Governor of Culmore Fort in Ireland, 1639; Quartermaster-General of Horse in Ireland, 1639-40, 1660; Col. of Horse, 1649-50, 1660-62; knighted in Ireland by the Duke of Ormonde, 1644; MP for County Dublin in Irish Parliament, 1647; a tireless Royalist conspirator during the Commonwealth, he was twice imprisoned in the Tower of London by Cromwell and was released on bail in 1659; granted a patent for coining copper token farthings, 1660.

He married, c.1632 in Holland, Anne Jennchen Anderson (1614-58), a Dutch lady, and had issue:

• (1) Sir Thomas Armstrong (1633-84), kt. (q.v.);
• (2) Capt. William Armstrong (c.1635-90?) (q.v.);
• (3) Susannah Armstrong (b. 1638), baptised 31 January 1638.

He received a grant of land at Corvellis (Co. Dublin), 1642, and had a pele tower at Wolivia, Lanercost (Cumbld) and a house in London.

He died in November 1662. His wife died in 1658.

< thePeerage.com >

Colonel Sir Thomas Armstrong married Anna Anderson.1 He died in November 1662.1

He fought in the Thirty Years War between 1633 and 1638 at The Netherlands.1 He held the office of Governor of Culmore Fort in 1639.1 He was the Quartermaster-General of the Horse from 1639 to 1640 at Ireland.1 He received a grant of land on 18 November 1642 at Corvellis, County Dublin, Ireland.1 He was invested as a Knight in 1643.1 He was the Colonel of the Horse from 1649 to 1650, and restored to the position in 1660.1 He served King Charles II during the Commonwealth and was twice imprisoned in the Tower by Cromwell, he was released on bail in 1659.1 He was reappointed as the Quartermaster-General of the Horse after the Restoration.1 He was granted a Patent for coining copper token farthings on 14 December 1660.1 He lived at London, England.1 He lived in Wolivia, Lanercost (where an Armstrong had built a tower near Park Gate), Cumberland, England.1

Children of Colonel Sir Thomas Armstrong and Anna Anderson:

1. Captain William Armstrong+1. Married Alice Deane.
2. Lt.-Col. Sir Thomas Armstrong+1 b. 1624, d. 20 Jun 1684. Married Katherine Pollexfen.
3. Susannah Armstrong1 b. 31 Jan 1638

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References

• “Landed families of Britain and Ireland - Heaton-Armstrong family of Farney Castle and Mount Heaton” < link >
• < thePeerage.com >
• Pedigree of Armstrong, Later Heaton Armstrong of Straffan, Co. Kildare, of Farney Castle, Co. Tipperary, and Mount Heaton, Kings Co., C.1640 - 1888.