Last name: Armstrong

After William 1 conquered England in 1066, he rewarded his followers with land grants. Amongst these followers were ones known as "Forten Bras" which literally translates as "strong in the arm", itself a rare surname, and from these people developed the Armstrangs or Armstrongs. The clan has always been centred in Liddesdale in Cumbria, where its fierce and warlike members were enlisted by the Scottish and English kings in turn. The terms "Moss Troopers" and "Border Reivers" were applied to the clan Armstrong, the history of the clan being the history of "The Border" and the wars between England and Scotland. As examples of their "strength", in 1342, Richard Harmestrang made a loan to King David 11 (1329 - 1371) of Scotland, whilst in 1363, William Armstrong was not only steward to the king, but ambassador to England. However, it is in the field of (literally) private enterprise that the Armstrongs made their mark, Armstrong of Gilnockie, a well known "free booter", being executed by James V of Scotland in 1529, whilst in 1596, Kinmont Willie (Armstrong), another "pirate" was seized by the Scots from Carlisle Castle, his subsequent fate is "unknown". Another unfortunate was Sir Thomas Armstrong (1624 - 1684), a well known monarchist, who fell foul of Judge Jeffreys and was executed. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Armstrong, which was dated 1235, arrested and imprisoned for murder and later pardoned at Carlisle, during the reign of King Alexander 11 of Scotland, 1214 - 1249. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Visitor Comments

Pook
Liddesdale is in Scotland NOT England!

Bredandada
this was awesome to know! i feel strong haha

Symcoxe
Liddesdale may well be in Scotland, but that doesn't alter the fact that Armstrong is an English surname! Or perhaps you can't read the information contained above.

Forten Bras
Armstrong is a Scottish surname not english. Which makes me Ulster Scot :)

Nancy
Awh my relatives still like to fight judging from this board. lol We are Scottish and duly proud that we kept the border lands away from the British. Anyone attending the reunion in Scotland this September?

Bernie
What reunion is this then ?

Stu
The Armstrongs also kept it away from the Scottish a lot of the time (P.S. Scotland is in Britain). Saying it's a Scottish or an English only surname is stupid. It's a bit both and a bit neither as they went to war with everyone. It's why I'm proud to be one, and English to boot. :)

Stu
Also, if what the above says is true and they were William the Bastards followers, does that mean we're all a bit French and Swedish?

D.
Yes. Actually, Rome tossed the European Celts around quite a bit. (At least the ones that survived the genocide.) You'll find peoples from Wales, Scotland, The Netherlands, Palatinate of the Rhein, Switzerland, Bavaria, Southern France, and the Basque regions closely related both genetically and culturally. (The Irish celts were cut off by an ice sheet in the way back but the Scottish were often back and forth to the Island since.) Many American immigrants from the Ulster regions were Welsh and Scottish. Many of the American immigrants from the Palatinates were French, Welsh and Scottish and many spoke German. Many of those from Wales and Scotland were originally from France. Go back far enough and most all of the above were La Tene. P.S. The Reivers generally were mercenary out of necessity and had both "British" (whatever than means) and "Scottish" (ditto) clans and bloodlines but they usually call Armstrong Scottish.

Michael
The first Armstrong was the Earl of Northumbria, and was in fact Danish. So, the Armstrongs are of Norse origin... Liddlesdale was in fact debatable land, and belong to neither England nor Scotland. So it is safe to say their origin is Anglo/Danish.

Armstrong
Actually the first Armstrong was Scottish. He received the name "Armstrong" from the King after saving him in battle. The King's horse had been killed from under him and an enemy soldier almost delivered a fatal blow when Armstrong came and grabbed the King (using just one arm) and flung him onto the back of his own horse, saving his life. The King then referred to the man as "Armstrong." Here's one of many links proving my point: http://www.scotclans.com/scottish_clans/clans/armstrong/history.html

Walker
When I was a kid we had a neighbour who's name was Strong o' the arm!

Stuart
The 1891 census records 3,022 Armstrong families in Scotland and 20,849 Armstrong families in England, the majority of them either side of the English/Scottish border. Border families can be English and they can be Scottish and they can be both. National borders are man made.

Lizabeth Souness
My family has Armstrongs in Northern Ireland. Does anyone know any history about the Armstrongs there? I would be interested if any one could help.