The Old Waverley Hotel, Princes Street, Edinburgh at twilight

John Armstrong (20 January 1857 – 27 April 1941) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer operating in Scotland in the late 19th century. He was a Quaker, and appears to have done much work for the Society of Friends.

Life

He was born in Newport Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1857, the son of James Armstrong, an engine driver and superintendent with the Caledonian Railway, and Agnes Irvine. The family moved to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

when John was only four years old. In 1881 he appears in the census as an architect operating from 51

Cockburn Street, Edinburgh Cockburn Street is a picturesque street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. It is named after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure Henry, L ...

. His home address is then given as 2 South Clerk Street. In 1882 he took up very prestigious offices at 2 Queen Street in the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. In 1885 he moved to the then newly completed corner flat at 17 Hillside Crescent, designed by his peer, John Chesser. He appears was affiliated with various

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

groups after being admitted to the faith in 1888 and was linked to the Westminster and Longford Quaker Meeting House, Russell Street in London . After briefly living with his brother George in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in England for part of 1886 he moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He is noted as applying for membership of the Quaker Meeting House in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

in April 1888. Here he met Marie Marthe Bobenrieth (1863–1955) from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

who married him shortly thereafter. John Armstrong was a member of the Peace Committee and also a founding member of the League of Universal Brotherhood and Native Races in London. John Armstrong became a civil engineer and inventor, experimenting with ore and he had a number of patents for reverberating furnaces and fire grates. He wrote a book, published in 1929 - Carbonization Technology and Engineering publisher C. Griffin. After living in Acton, England he moved to Eden Hall, Montpelier Road, Ealing, England. The couple retired to Hyères, France (a popular British hub) in

in 1933 where they lived in the Villa l’Ensoleillado (which he had purchased in 1926). They returned to London in 1939 to renew their wedding vows at the Quaker Meeting House in London and celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. He died in Hyeres in 1941, and was cremated and placed in the Columbarium in Marseille.Ancestry.ca Foreign Returns Report of Death of a British Subject

Works

*Old Waverley Hotel,

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (thre ...

(1883) *

Carrubbers Close Mission Carrubbers Christian Centre is a church on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Carrubbers Close Mission was founded in 1858 and its 'workers' originally met in a former Atheist Meeting House in Carrubbers Close. The Rev. James Gall ...

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

(1883) *Eden Hall, Montpelier Road, Ealing

References

*Dictionary of Scottish Architects {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, John 1857 births 1941 deaths Architects from Edinburgh Scottish Quakers Engineers from Edinburgh