Armstrong, William Armstrong, 1st Baron (1810-1900). Armstrong was the son of a Newcastle merchant. Trained as a solicitor, he was interested in technical experiments from boyhood. In 1847 he established the Elswick engine works near Newcastle to manufacture hydraulic machinery. During the Crimean War he became involved in gun-making and this led in 1859 to the Elswick Ordnance Company. During the later 19th cent. it became one of the world's leading engineering, shipbuilding, and armaments firms, taking over the Whitworth company in 1897. Armstrong acquired a Northumberland estate at Cragside in 1863 and commissioned Norman Shaw to build a mansion for him. He received a peerage in 1887.




