William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong CBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
FRSThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
(26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was a
TynesideTyneside is a conurbation in northern England, which is home to over 80% of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. It includes Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Hebburn, Jarrow, North Shields, and South Shields — all settlements on the banks of the River Tyne. The population of the...
industrialist who was the effective founder of the
Armstrong WhitworthSir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
manufacturing empire.
Early life
He was born in
Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
, at 9 Pleasant Row, Shieldfield, about three-quarters of a mile from the city centre. The house no longer exists but an inscribed granite tablet marks the spot. At that time the area, next to the Pandon Dene, was quite rural. His father, also called William, was a corn merchant on the Newcastle quayside, who became mayor of Newcastle in 1850. An older sister, Anne, born in 1802, was named after his mother, the daughter of William Porter.
Armstrong was educated at private schools in Newcastle (
The Royal Grammar SchoolRoyal Grammar School Newcastle upon Tyne, known locally and often abbreviated as RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It gained its Royal Charter under Queen Elizabeth I...
) and
WhickhamWhickham is a town in North East England, four miles south west of Newcastle upon Tyne and four and a half miles west of Gateshead. Whickham is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Its postal address is Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne. Whickham is situated on high ground overlooking the...
, near
GatesheadGateshead is a city in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. Gateshead town centre and Newcastle city centre are very close to one another, and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
until he was sixteen, at which point he was sent to
Bishop AucklandBishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in North East England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...
Grammar School. Whilst 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, after grammar school, he became articled to Armorer Donkin, a solicitor friend of his father’s. He spent five years in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
completing his legal education 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 now felt settled in his career and so, he proposed to Margaret Ramshaw. She accepted and they were soon married, going to live in
JesmondJesmond is a residential suburb and electoral ward just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The population is about 12,000. It is adjacent to, and to the east of, the Town Moor, providing pedestrian and cycle paths to Spital Tongues and the city's two...
, a suburb of Newcastle. Armstrong worked for eleven years as a solicitor, but during his spare time he showed a considerable interest in engineering.
Change of career
Armstrong was a very keen angler, and while fishing on the
River DeeThe River Dee is a river running through the extreme south east of Cumbria, a part of the Craven region traditionally part of the West Riding of Yorkshire....
at
DentdaleDent is a small village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, nestling in a narrow valley on the western slopes of the Pennines within the Yorkshire Dales National Park...
in the
PenninesThe Pennines are a low-rising mountain range in northern England and southern Scotland. They separate the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East....
, he saw a waterwheel in action, supplying power to a marble quarry. It struck Armstrong that much of the available power was being wasted. When he returned to Newcastle, he designed a rotary engine powered by water, and this was built in the High Bridge works of his friend Henry Watson. Unfortunately, little interest was shown in the engine. Armstrong subsequently developed a piston engine instead of a rotary one and decided that it might be suitable for driving a hydraulic crane. In 1846 his work as an amateur scientist was recognized when he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
.
In 1845 a scheme was set in motion to provide piped water from distant reservoirs to the households of Newcastle. Armstrong was involved in this scheme and he proposed to Newcastle Corporation that the excess water pressure in the lower part of town could be used to power a
QuaysideThe Quayside is an area along the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne and neigbouring Gateshead in the North East of England....
crane specially adapted by himself. He claimed that his hydraulic crane could unload ships faster and more cheaply than conventional cranes. The Corporation agreed to his suggestion, and the experiment proved so successful that three more hydraulic cranes were installed on the Quayside.
The success of his hydraulic crane led Armstrong to consider setting up a business to manufacture cranes and other hydraulic equipment. He therefore resigned from his legal practice. Donkin, his legal colleague, backed him in his career move and provided financial backing for the new venture. In 1847 the firm of W.G. Armstrong & Company bought of land alongside the river at
ElswickElswick is a ward of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in the western part of the borough, bordering the river Tyne. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove,...
, near Newcastle, and began to build a factory there. The new company received orders for hydraulic cranes from Edinburgh and Northern Railways and from
Liverpool DocksThe Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed 7.5 mile dock system that runs from Herculaneum Dock to Seaforth Dock, in the city of Liverpool, England, on the east side of the River Mersey...
, as well as for hydraulic machinery for dock gates in
GrimsbyGrimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996. According to legend, Grimsby was first founded by Grim, a Danish fisherman. 'By' means 'village' in Old Norse and 'city'...
. The company soon began to expand. In 1850 the company produced 45 cranes and two years later, 75. It averaged 100 cranes per year for the rest of the century. In 1850 over 300 men were employed at the works, but by 1863 this had risen to 3,800. The company soon branched out into bridge building, one of the first orders being for the
InvernessInverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
Bridge, completed in 1855.
Hydraulic accumulator
Armstrong was responsible for developing the hydraulic accumulator. Where water pressure was not available on site for the use of hydraulic cranes, Armstrong often built high water towers to provide a supply of water at pressure. However, when supplying cranes for use at
New HollandNew Holland is a small village, civil parish and port on the Humber estuary in the Borough of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England. It has a population of 955.-History:...
on the Humber Estuary, he was unable to do this because the foundations consisted of sand. After much careful thought he produced the hydraulic accumulator, a cast-iron cylinder fitted with a plunger supporting a very heavy weight. The plunger would slowly be raised, drawing in water, until the downward force of the weight was sufficient to force the water below it into pipes at great pressure. The accumulator was a very significant, if unspectacular, invention, which found many applications in the following years.
Armaments
In 1854, during the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, Armstrong read about the difficulties the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
experienced in maneuvering its heavy field guns. He decided to design a lighter, more mobile field gun, with greater range and accuracy. He built a breech-loading gun with a strong, rifled barrel made from wrought iron wrapped around a steel inner lining, designed to fire a shell rather than a ball. In 1855 he had a five-pounder ready for inspection by a government committee. The gun proved successful in trials, but the committee thought a higher caliber gun was needed, so Armstrong built an 18-pounder on the same design. After trials, this gun was declared to be superior to all its rivals. Armstrong surrendered the patent for the gun to the British government, rather than profit from its design. As a result he was created a
Knight BachelorThe rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
and in 1859 was presented to Queen Victoria. Armstrong became employed as Engineer of Rifled Ordnance to the
War DepartmentThe War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office...
. In order to avoid a conflict of interests if his own company were to manufacture armaments, Armstrong created a separate company, called Elswick Ordnance Company, in which he had no financial involvement. The new company agreed to manufacture armaments for the British government and no other. Under his new position, Armstrong worked to bring the old
Woolwich ArsenalThe Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England...
up to date so that it could build guns designed at Elswick.
However, just when it looked as if the new gun was about to become a great success, a great deal of opposition to the gun arose, both inside the army and from rival arms manufacturers, particularly
Joseph WhitworthSir Joseph Whitworth, Baronet was an English engineer and entrepreneur.-Early life:Whitworth was born in Stockport, the son of Charles Whitworth, a teacher and Congregational minister), and at a young age developed an interest in machinery...
of
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
. Stories were publicised that the new gun was too difficult to use, that it was too expensive, that it was dangerous to use, that it frequently needed repair and so on. All of this smacked of a concerted campaign against Armstrong. Armstrong was able to refute all of these claims in front of various government committees, but he found the constant criticism very wearying and depressing. In 1862 the government decided to stop ordering the new gun and return to muzzle loaders. Also, because of a drop in demand, future orders for guns would be supplied from Woolwich, leaving Elswick without new business. Compensation was eventually agreed with the government for the loss of business to the company. Unfortunately, the government would not release the company from its agreement not to sell armaments abroad, so that avenue was closed to it. Eventually, the restriction was relaxed, and the company was able to sell guns to both sides in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
.
Warships
In 1864 the two companies, W.G. Armstrong & Company and Elswick Ordnance Company merged to form Sir W.G. Armstrong & Company. Armstrong had resigned from his employment with the War Office, so there was no longer a conflict of interest. The company turned its attention to naval guns. In 1867 Armstrong reached an agreement with
Charles MitchellDr. Charles Mitchell , was an Aberdonian, who founded major shipbuilding yards on the Tyne. He became a public benefactor who funded outstanding buildings which can still be admired today.-Career:...
, a shipbuilder in Low Walker, whereby Mitchells would build warships and Elswick would provide the guns. The first ship, in 1868 was HMS
Staunch, a gunboat.
In 1876, because the 18th century bridge at Newcastle restricted access by ships to the Elswick works, Armstrong’s company paid for a new
Swing BridgeThe Swing Bridge is a Swing bridge over the River Tyne, England connecting Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, and lies between the Tyne Bridge and the High Level Bridge. The hydraulic power to move the bridge is derived from electrically driven pumps...
to be built, so that warships could have their guns fitted at Elswick. In 1882 Armstrong’s company merged with Mitchells to form Sir William Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. Ltd. and in 1884 a shipyard opened at Elswick to specialise in warship production. The first vessels produced were the torpedo cruisers
PantherSMS Panther was a so-called "torpedo ram cruiser" of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and her sister ship, Leopard, were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s.-Design:...
and
LeopardSMS Leopard was a so-called "torpedo ram cruiser" of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. She and her sister ship, SMS Panther, were part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s.-Design:...
for the
Austro-Hungarian NavyThe Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine...
. The first battleship produced at Elswick was
H.M.S VictoriaHMS Victoria was one of two Victoria-class battleships of the Royal Navy. On 22 June 1893 she collided with near Tripoli, Lebanon during manoeuvres and quickly sank, taking 358 crew with her, including the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon...
, launched in 1887. The ship was originally to be named
Renown, but the name was changed in honour of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Armstrong drove the first and last rivets. The ship was ill-fated, as she was involved in a collision with H.M.S.
Camperdown in 1893 and sank with the loss of 358 men, including Vice-Admiral Sir
George TryonVice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
. An important customer of the Elswick yard was
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which took several cruisers, some of which defeated the Russian fleet at the
Battle of TsushimaThe Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was naval history's only decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets...
in 1905. It was claimed that every Japanese gun used in the battle was provided by Elswick. Elswick was the only factory in the world that could build a battleship and arm it completely.
The Elswick works continued to prosper, and by 1870 it stretched for three-quarters of a mile along the riverside. The population of Elswick, which was 3,539 in 1851, had increased by 1871 to 27,800. In 1894, Elswick built and installed the steam-driven pumping engines, hydraulic accumulators and hydraulic pumping engines to operate London’s
Tower BridgeTower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name...
. In 1897 the company merged with the company of Armstrong’s old rival, Joseph Whitworth, and became Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd. Whitworth was by this time dead.
Armstrong gathered many excellent engineers at Elswick. Notable among them were
Andrew NobleSir Andrew Noble, 1st Baronet KCB was a Scottish physicist noted for his work on ballistics and gunnery....
and
George Wightwick RendelGeorge Wightwick Rendel was a British engineer, and naval architect. He was closely associated with the Tyneside industrialist and armaments manufacturer, William George Armstrong.-Family:...
, whose design of gun-mountings and hydraulic control of gun-turrets were adopted worldwide. Rendel introduced the cruiser as a naval vessel. There was great rivalry and dislike between Noble and Rendel, which came into the open after Armstrong’s death.
Cragside
From 1863 onwards, although Armstrong remained the head of his company, he became less involved in its day-to-day running. He appointed several very able men to senior positions and they continued his work. When he married, he acquired
Jesmond Dene HouseJesmond Dene House is a 19th century mansion house at Jesmond Dene, Newcastle upon Tyne, England which is now a hotel. It is a Grade II listed building....
, a house to the west of
Jesmond DeneJesmond Dene is a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is a narrow steep sided valley through which flows a watercourse known as the Ouse Burn, the word "dene" meaning a valley in the Northumbrian dialect....
, Newcastle and began to landscape and improve land that he bought within the Dene. In 1860 he paid local architect
John DobsonJohn Dobson was a 19th century English architect in the neoclassical tradition. He became the most noted architect in the North of England. Churches and houses by him dot the North East - Nunnykirk Hall, Meldon Park, Mitford Hall, Lilburn Tower, St John the Baptist Church in Otterburn,...
to design a banqueting hall in the Dene. His house close to Newcastle was convenient when he was a solicitor and an industrialist, but when he had more spare time he longed for a house in the country.
He had often visited
RothburyRothbury is a town in Northumberland, England, located on the River Coquet near the Simonside Hills and the Northumberland National Park. The town is popular with walkers, and is known for the Victorian mansion Cragside, located nearby....
as a child, when he was afflicted by a severe cough, and he had fond memories of the area. In 1863 he bought some land in a steep-sided, narrow valley where the Debdon Burn flows towards the
River CoquetThe River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast of England at Amble. Warkworth Castle is built in a loop of the Coquet....
near Rothbury. He had the land cleared and supervised the building of a house perched on a ledge of rock, overlooking the burn. He also supervised a programme of planting trees and mosses so as to cover the rocky hillside with vegetation. His new house was called
CragsideCragside is a country house near Rothbury in Northumberland, England. It was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power. Built into a rocky hillside above a 4 km² forest garden, it was the country home of Lord Armstrong and has been in the care of the National Trust since...
, and over the years Armstrong added to the Cragside estate. Eventually the estate was and had seven million trees planted, together with five artificial lakes and of carriage drives. The lakes were used to generate hydro-electricity, and the house was the first in the world to be lit by hydro-electricity, using incandescent lamps provided by the inventor
Joseph SwanSir Joseph Wilson Swan was an British physicist and chemist, most famous for the invention of the incandescent light bulb for which he received the first patent in 1878...
.
As Armstrong spent less and less time at the Elswick works, he spent more and more time at Cragside, and it became his main home. In 1869 he commissioned the celebrated architect
Richard Norman ShawRichard Norman Shaw RA , was the most influential British architect from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings....
to enlarge and improve the house, and this was done over a period of 15 years. In 1883 Armstrong gave
Jesmond DeneJesmond Dene is a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is a narrow steep sided valley through which flows a watercourse known as the Ouse Burn, the word "dene" meaning a valley in the Northumbrian dialect....
, together with its banqueting hall to the city of Newcastle. He retained his house next to the Dene. Armstrong entertained several eminent guests at Cragside, including the Shah of Persia, the King of
SiamThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, the prime minister of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Later life
Armstrong was elected as the president of the
Institution of Civil EngineersFounded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineers. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150 countries...
in December 1881 and served in that capacity for the next year. In 1886 he was persuaded to stand as a
Unionist LiberalThe Liberal Unionists were a British political party that split away from the Liberals in 1886. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain the party formed a political alliance with the Conservatives in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
candidate for
NewcastleNewcastle-upon-Tyne was a Borough constituency in the county of Northumberland of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
, but was unsuccessful, coming third in the election. That same year he was presented with the Freedom of the City of Newcastle. In 1887 he was raised to the Peerage with the title of
Baron Armstrong, of Cragside, in the County of Nortumberland. His last great project, begun in 1894, was the purchase and restoration of the huge
Bamburgh CastleBamburgh Castle is an imposing castle located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:...
on the Northumberland coast, which remains in the hands of the Armstrong family. His wife, Margaret, died in September 1893, at their house in Jesmond. Armstrong died at Cragside on 27 December 1900, aged ninety. He was buried in Rothbury chuchyard, alongside his wife. The couple had no children, and Armstrong’s heir was his great nephew William Watson-Armstrong. He was succeeded as chairman of the company by his one-time protégée,
Andrew NobleSir Andrew Noble, 1st Baronet KCB was a Scottish physicist noted for his work on ballistics and gunnery....
.
Such was Armstrong’s fame as a gun-maker that he is thought to be a possible model for
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
's arms magnate in
Major Barbara.
His attitude to armaments
There is no evidence that Armstrong agonised over his decision to go into armament production. He once said: “If I thought that war would be fomented, or the interests of humanity suffer, by what I have done, I would greatly regret it. I have no such apprehension”. He also said: “It is our province, as engineers to make the forces of matter obedient to the will of man; those who use the means we supply must be responsible for their legitimate application”.
Views on renewable energy
Armstrong advocated the use of
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
. Stating that coal "was used wastefully and extravagantly in all its applications", he predicted in 1863 that England would cease to produce coal within two centuries. As well as advocating the use of hydroelectricity, he also supported solar power, stating that the solar energy received by in tropical areas would "exert the amazing power of 4000 horses acting for nearly nine hours every day"
The benefactor
Armstrong donated the long wooded gorge of
Jesmond DeneJesmond Dene is a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is a narrow steep sided valley through which flows a watercourse known as the Ouse Burn, the word "dene" meaning a valley in the Northumbrian dialect....
to the people of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1883, as well as Armstrong Bridge and Armstrong Park nearby.
The University of Newcastle was originally founded by Lord Armstrong in 1871 as the College of Physical Science, later Armstrong College in 1904. He was twice president of the
Institution of Mechanical EngineersThe Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society concerned with mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers. It was founded in 1847 and received a Royal Charter in 1930...
.
Armstrong gave £11,500 towards the building of Newcastle’s Hancock Natural History Museum, which was completed in 1882. This was an enormous sum in those days.
Lord Armstrong's generosity extended beyond his death. In 1901 his heir gave £100,000 for the building of the new
Royal Victoria InfirmaryOriginally founded as the Newcastle Infirmary in 1751, the Royal Victoria Infirmary , in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, was opened on 11 July 1906 by Edward VII on of Town Moor given by the Corporation and Freemen. The fully furnished and equipped hospital, containing twenty wards, a nurses' home,...
in Newcastle upon Tyne. Its original 1753 building at Forth Banks near the river Tyne were inadequate and impossible to expand.