Armstrong, Col. Sir Thomas (1603?-62), kt. He married, c.1632 in Holland, Anne Jennchen Anderson (1614-58), a Dutch lady, and had issue:

(1) Sir Thomas Armstrong (1633-64), kt. Elder son of Col. Sir Thomas Armstrong (d. 1662), kt. and his wife Anna Anderson, born at Nijmegen (Holland), 27 December 1633. MP for Leicestershire, 1660 and for Stafford, 1679, 1681. Captain of 1st troop of Royal Horse Guards, 1661-73; Major in King's Life Guards, 1673-78; Lt-Col. of Queen's Horse, 1678-79; Gentleman of the Horse to the Duke of Monmouth; knighted 1667/8. A hot-headed man, he killed three men in duels but was pardoned on each occasion. He was wrongly accused of complicity in the Rye House Plot in 1683 and fled to the Netherlands, but he was caught, tried for treason, attainted and executed. Under King William III the attainder was reversed and his widow was granted £6,000 compensation from the estate of Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys.

He married, 1656/7 (settlement 10 February 1656/7), Katherine (d. 1693), daughter of James Pollexfen of Stanstead (Essex) and had issue:

• (1) Jane Armstrong; married Adm. Mathew (d. 1685);
• (2) Catherine Armstrong; died unmarried;
• (3) Mary Armstrong; married D. Pollexfen.

He was executed 20 June 1684. His widow died in 1693.

Biography

http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.za/2015/09/182-armstrong-and-heat...

Sir Thomas Armstrong, kt. (1633-84) made himself useful to King Charles II during the Commonwealth and was valued for his influence with the young Duke of Monmouth. He was hotheaded, however, and had to be pardoned three times for killing men in duels. In 1683 he was accused, seemingly without justification, of involvement in the Rye House plot to kill King Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, and fled to Holland, but he was captured and brought back to face trial by Judge Jefferys and execution in 1684, although he was later officially pardoned by King William III when the miscarriage of justice was recognised.

http://www.thepeerage.com/p26383.htm#i263823

Lt.-Col. Sir Thomas Armstrong was born in 1624 at Nimeguen, The Netherlands.1 He was the son of Colonel Sir Thomas Armstrong and Anna Anderson.1 He married Katherine Pollexfen, daughter of James Pollexfen.1 He died on 20 June 1684, when he was executed for alleged treason. The attainder was reversed by the Kings Bench Court, WILLIAM III.1

He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the 1st Troop of the Royal Horse Guards.1 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Leicester in 1660.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the 3rd Troop of King Charles II.1 He held the office of Gentleman of the Horse to the Duke of Monmouth.1 He was wrongly accused of complicity in the Rye House Plot, he fled to Netherlands.1

Sir Thomas Armstrong (c. 1633 – 20 June 1684) was an army officer and Member of Parliament executed for treason. His father, Colonel Sir Thomas Armstrong (died November 1662) fought in the 30 Years War in the Netherlands, was a royalist soldier during the English Civil War, and was twice imprisoned in the Tower of London by Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth.[2]

During the Interregnum he was a supporter of Charles II, participating in the plot to seize Chester Castle in 1655, and carrying funds from Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford to Charles in exile. He was possibly imprisoned for a year on his return. In 1657 he married Catherine, daughter of James Pollexfen and niece of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.

Following the Restoration, he received, in February 1661, a commission with the Horse Guards. In August 1675 Armstrong killed the son of one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at a London theatre. Armstrong was pardoned on the grounds that his opponent had drawn first.

Armstrong served with James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth in France from 1672, fighting at the Siege of Maastricht (1673) and alongside the Dutch, in 1678. He was wounded at St Denis. In 1679 helped suppress the covenanter rising and fought at the battle of Bothwell Bridge.

Monmouth's influence secured him as MP for Stafford in March 1679 to the First Exclusion Parliament. Following the Rye House Plot in 1683 he was indicted for high treason. He fled to Cleves and then Rotterdam but was captured in Leiden and sentenced to death by Judge George Jeffreys. Armstrong was executed on 20 June 1684. His head was affixed to Westminster Hall, three of his quarters were displayed in London, and the fourth at Stafford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye_House_Plot

"Sir Thomas Armstrong, royalist, and concerned in the Rye house plot, was son of an English officer, serving in one of James' Low Country expeditions, and was born at Nimeguen, where his father was quartered. He was brought to England young, and served under Charles I; he joined Ormond in Ireland in 1649, and declared for Charles II, for which and similar royalist service he was imprisoned in Lambeth House by Cromwell" - Dictionary of National Biography, quoted in 'Chronicles of the Armstrongs', http://www.archive.org/stream/chroniclesofarms00arms#page/341. These dates suggest that the birth date of 1624 is more likely than the birth date of 1633.

References

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