page_title: William Armstrong (corn merchant)
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: William Armstrong (corn merchant) / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of James Losh (1763–1833), English lawyer and reformer.
context_page_description: William Armstrong was an English corn merchant and local politician of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was also the father of prominent industrialist William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong.
  Armstrong was born in a small Cumbria village, where he came in contact with the wealthy Losh family. This contact helped him gain a commercial foothold when, in the 1750s, he moved to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, joining a Losh-owned corn firm. Upon the proprietors' bankruptcy, Armstrong collected together the funds to establish his own corn firm: Armstrong, & Co.
  Financially established, Armstrong was able to pursue his own interests. Armstrong took part local reformist politics, where he and his friends, James Losh and Armorer Donkin, campaigned for parliamentary acts in Newcastle, and Armstrong attempted to reform the administration of the River Tyne, to limited success. He entertained the local high society at the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, warmly supporting its growth. Armstrong also pursued a recreational mathematical interest, contributing to some minor journals, and leaving a large collection of mathematical volumes to the Society.
context_section_description: Very little is known of Armstrong's early life. He was born in 1778, in the small village of Wreay, Cumbria, the son of a local shoemaker, and descended from a long line of yeomen. Armstrong attended the local village school, developing an early interest in mathematics, and attending alongside the children of John Losh, from the local Losh family: James (1763–1833), George (1766–1846), and William. The Losh family were powerful in this area, descended from the Arloshes, who had occupied the area for over two centuries, and residing in the large local mansion, known as Woodside. Though the family were never honoured with titles, John Losh was known locally as "the big black squire" of Woodside. At this school, Armstrong was tutored by the local priest, William Gaskin, an eccentric man who James Losh recalled as "uncouth in his manners and abrupt and confused in his manner of speaking", if also "a man of considerable powers of mind". Armstrong was also likely introduced to the celebrated mathematics teacher, John Dawson, by John and James Losh, who both later studied under him at Sedbergh School.
caption: James Losh (1763–1833), friend of Armstrong, member of the powerful Losh family, and fellow reformer of Newcastle.
exif: {}