EARLY RECORDS
The 11.6% of my family DNA that comes from Cumbria can be traced back to William Armstrong.
Willam Armstrong s/o Joseph Armstrong & Sarah Mirehouse was born May 2, 1855 in Cockermouth, Cumberland . - Kim Davey Family Tree
In the 1861 census from Bury, Lancashire. HIs mother, 37-year-old Sarah Armstrong, was head of the family residing at # 13 Haslem street. She is listed as a "hat trimmer," which is not surprising considering that her father John Mirehouse was a hatter. However three of Sarah's sons - George (15), John (13) & Henry (7) - were "factory hands."
Noticeably absent is her husband Joseph, and stepson of the same name.
In 1860, she gave birth to her last child in the port of Whitehaven. Considering that this was around the time both the Josephs in Sarah's life disappeared, it may be significant that her new baby was named Joseph.
Then Sarah took her six boys almost 140 miles north to Bury, in Lancashire. They were at #13 Haslem Street when the 1861 census was taken. Her sister Margaret (41, born Cockermouth) and her husband Thomas Haslem were living with them.
MARRIAGES
William married (1) Emma Fairclough ( c1855, Bury, - c1907 in Bury) at Holy Trinity, Bury on Feb 13 1875. William was then a 21 year old felt hat finisher living at Pits o the Moor, Bury. Witnesses to the wedding were John Warburton and Esther (Spiby?) X.
Emma Fairclough died in Rugby, Warwickshire, on Nov 6, 1906
(2) William Armstrong married Ruthy Lucy Goodale or Maggie Peet in Rugby during the second quarter (Apr - June) of 1909.
CENSUS RECORDS
Bury's 1880 Directory lists William as as "hat manufacturer," on Mason street. In the census, taken the following year, it says he employed "6 Men, 9 Women and One Boy." Emma was no longer working and the Armstrongs were employing 14 year old Maria Armstead as a servant in their residence at 33 Mason street, Bury.
Three years later William had a partner, John Walrnsley, and was in debt. The Solicitors Journal states their first meeting was on July 7. Three weeks later, the court at Bolton ordered them to pay all their unsecured creditors the amounts owing and 10% compensation. When Armstrong and company failed to comply by the following April, William Schofield was appointed as their trustee.
Though we do not know the precise details, the 1891 census describes William as a 36 year old "Retail Hatter" with a shop at 6 Rock street (Bury's main street).
Nellie, who was born that year, remembers sleeping in her parents room until her father thought her old enough to be removed.
She is said to have hated her father and was raised by servants.
THE MOVE TO RUGBY
William and Emma moved to Rugby, Warwickshire, sometime prior to 1901. He was still a retail hatter, and his son Jesse as his assistant. Both Joe (14) and Nellie (9) were in school.
I suspect that either Jesse or Joe is the "Ernest" that Nellie mentions teasing her mercilessly.
Four of the Armstrong children - John(25), Sarah Jane "Cis" (22), Frederick (20) and William (16) - remained at 6 Rock street, in Bury.
Emma is said to have died in 1907, after which William remarried. The 1911 census confirms this, stating William had been in a marriage relationship for two years. According to my Aunt Betty, Nellie hated her stepmother - who made her clean house!
There may have been other issues. Though three of the Armstrong children were living in Rugby, they were all in houses apart from William and his new wife.
Fred was the oldest and, as we have seen, had already been away from his father for at least a decade. He and his wife Charlotte had a two-year-old daughter and were living at 47 York street. William was visiting the day the census was taken.
Both Jess and Nellie were still "single" and boarding with couples old enough to be their parents. Jess lived with the Danes at 141 Murray Road. Nellie was one of the two boarders at at 77 Grosvenor Rd. The other boarder, Mary Ann Evans, was a 31-year-old teacher. Their landlords, Thomas and Elizabeth Taylor,were in their early 50's. Nellie, then 20, is listed as a "Gents Oufitter's Assistant."
DEATH
William Armstrong died in Bury, Aug 4, 1938. - Kim Davey Family Tree
CHILDREN
Fred Armstrong (c Jan 1871) committed suicide
John Armstrong (23 Dec 1875) is listed as his father's 15 year old assistamt during the 1891 census
Sarah Armstrong (c 1879 - aft 1962?) is probably named after her paternal grandmother. This is the "Cis" who Nana loved. The two women corresponded after Nana had moved to Canada. Aunty Betty says that Cis used to send presents every Christmas. When she was 83 years old, Cis painted her house inside and out. Really beautiful
Joe Armstrong ( c 1883, Bury ) - cousin wrote that "Joseph ran a greengrocers shop in Rawtenstall, Lancashire and had a travel agent contract with a charabanc company that ran trips to Blackpool etc for day outs."
Fred Armstrong birth: 23 December 1880; Bury, Lancashire - died June 23, 1927 in Rugby, Warwickshire. He married Charlotte Scott Brown between Jun and Aug 1905. She is the d/o Henry Browne born 6 May 1884; Drayton, Oxfordshire, death: 18 December 1966; Leamington, Warwickshire.
Jess Armstrong (c 1887, Bury)
Ernest Armstrong - Not mentioned in the 1881 or 1891 cenus. I am told that used to tease Nana mercilessly.
Nellie "Nana" Armstrong - biography follows
assume her father's trade of trimming hats