1st and 2nd Generations of Armours

Poulton-le-Fylde, an ancient market town in the 'Fylde' - an old word meaning 'field' - was in fact also a busy port in the days of sailing ships while they could still get up the River Wyre from Morecambe Bay to moorings at Skippool and the riverside warehouses at Wardleys Creek. Till 1840 Fleetwood did not exist, being no more than sand dunes and a rabbit warren where those wanted by the law could easily hide.

The story of the Armour family is inter-woven with that of the 'new town' of Fleetwood, built by the inspiration of Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood and named after him. The movement of the families involved is obviously influenced by this as well as the close Catholic community which moved after a while from St John's, Poulton to a room above an off-licence (run by relatives) which was used as a chapel for many years, and then St Mary's. The various occupations give a clue to the industries rapidly springing up in the town.

James and Ann had eleven children:

John Armour b.14 Feb 1839 in Derry. (Londonderry) d. 3 Jan 1868 at sea

Isabella Armour b.12 Mar 1841, in Derry, m. William Coulthard, d. on 4 Mar 1894, bur. Fleetwood

Mary Ann Armour b.22 Feb 1843 in Derry, m. Collins, d. 29 Nov 1872, bur. Dalton-in-Furness.

James Armour(2) b.16 Nov 1845 in Derry, m. Elizabeth Gill, d.18 Oct 1910, bur.Fleetwood

David Armour b.1847 in Derry, m. Ellen, d. & bur. in Kirkham (issue)

Robert Armour b.12 Apr 1850 in Fleetwood, unm., d.6 Jun 1895, bur.Fleetwood

Thomas Armour b.1852, m. Elizabeth Hesketh, d.19 Jan 1891, d.& bur. Fleetwood

Margaret Armour b.11 Aug 1853, d.12 Aug 1853

Henry Armour b.10 Sep 1855

Francis Armour b.15 May 1858 m. Ellen Rogerson 1863-1940, d. 28 Mar 1924

Margaret Armour b.10 Jan 1861, d.21 Nov 1878

Neither of the 'girls' above look old enough to be James (1)'s wife Ann, so perhaps they are Isabella and Mary Ann. Since Mary Ann died in 1872 and Isabella was married in 1873, the photo could be dated between about1860 and 1872. (The youngest, the surviving Margaret, was only 11 when Mary Ann died, and only 17 when she herself died. Moreover, Isabella was busy with her own increasing family in the 1870s!)
Isabella and Mary Ann would have been close, surrounded by so many boys. Mary Ann was perhaps following Isabella in her move to Furness (and/or influenced by their father who was there for a while himself) A possible motive for having a photo taken could be for other Armours who must have remained in Derry when James (1) settled in England - but nothing is known of this earlier family at present.

James and Ann only appear in one more census, that for 1871, having moved to Flag St. Isabella, now 30, has reappeared as a laundress and only James junior and Henry of those surviving are not 'at home. James died on 24 Jan 1872 and Ann on 17 Dec 1879. [Sources: James' day-book and their gravestone]

Family of James Armour (2) & Elizabeth Gill

go to the Armour Family part 2

Notes

1. John Armour (1839-1868) became an engineer. He is listed as a boilermaker on the Census of 1861, lodging at 6 East St, Fleetwood with the expatriate Irish family of Thomas Cearns. John was one of the survivors of the SS London on its voyage from Panama to London which foundered in the Bay of Biscay in 1866. He never married and died on 3 Jan 1868, being buried at sea. Return

2. Isabella Armour (1841-1894) - Coulthard family, Armour cousins
James Armour (1) had lived in Barrow in Furness for a while so he perhaps had contacts there which would explain how or why his eldest daughter Isabella came to marry in Dalton-in-Furness (listed under Ulverston) Lancs. She appears on the 1871 census at the Armour home in Flag St, 'Thornton, Fleetwood', then aged 30 and still single, working as a laundress. In the September Q 1872 she married William Coulthard in Ulverston. William was born there in 1847, a tailor, and her junior by about five years. By 1873 when their son John was born they were living in Barrow in Furness, but by 1875 they were in Fleetwood where their daughters Ann (1875) and Margaret (1877) were born. Their youngest daughter, Isabella, was born in 1879 in Bouth, South Cumberland, and then by 1881 the whole family was back in 'Thornton, Fleetwood', this time at 43 Poulton St, which is where presumably William died in the September of that year. By 1891, but probably some years earlier, Isabella moved with all four children to 3 Kent St, Thornton and is listed again as a laundress. Whether she 'took in' washing or worked in a laundry, the moves must mean she was always in rented acommodation and not finding life easy. Only her eldest son John was working, but as a fisherman, a tough and dangerous job. She died on 4 Mar 1894 a week short of turning 53, in 'Fleetwood'. As for John, he eventually became a steamboat captain. Return

3. Mary Ann Armour, born on 22 Feb 1843 [source: James' Day-book] married a Collins (first name unknown) from Dalton-in-Furness but died on 29 Nov 1872 in Fleetwood. She had as far as is known, only one son, John James Collins who was born in 1868 and died on 1925. John, according to his gravestone, married his cousin and Free BMD shows his wife Annie to be Annie Wilkin. David Armour (see next Armour, no.5) married Ellen Wilkin in the Jun Q 1875 [Free BMD Fylde Vol.8e p.935] but Annie was born in the Jun Q 1872 [Fylde Vol. 8e p.648] Whether the register records her father as David or not is unknown at present. John and Annie married in the Sep Q 1896 [Free BMD Fylde Vol.8e p.1345] and had two known children, Margaret Forshaw Collins born in the Mar Q 1898 [Free BMD Fylde Vol.8e p.731] and Ellen Collins born in the Dec Q 1902 {Free BMD Fylde Vol.8e p.656] Ellen married a Lynch and the family stayed in contact with their Armour and other cousins.
There was a Margaret Forshaw, an annuitant with some other Collins, including a John R.Collins aged 6 in 1871. The repetition of the Forshaw name suggests a family connection, but so far undiscovered.

5. David started out with an apprenticeship to a baker at the age of about 13 when he was still living with his parents, now at 36 Cottage Court in Fleetwood in 1861. This phase didn't last long and it is not known whether he completed the apprenticeship. By 1871 he was working as a stonemason in Fleetwood then by 1881, now married to Ellen, a native of Kirkham, he had settled in that town, living at 5 Chapel Walks. He had 3 or 4 children, possibly Annie [Wilkin - see above] born in 1873 and Margaret about Oct 1880. He died in the Sep Q 1883 and possibly his wife died during the 80s as well as she has not been found after 1881. Return

6. Robert never married. He was a joiner by trade, living in 1881 with his brother James at 23 Dock St Fleetwood and in 1891 with Mrs Ellen Cowell and her family at 39 Albert St. He died on 6 Jun 1895. (Matthew Hull, brother of William Hull who was father-in-law of Thomas Lupton2, married a Bella Cowell, born in 1841, ,who was probably a niece of Ellen Cowell's as shown in the 1861 census aged 19. This will be checked and relevant information added here and on the Hull page - such coincidences must have occurred often, especially as it was a close-knit society in Fleetwood, meeting regularly at St Mary's church - or the chapel that preceded it). Return

7. Thomas was a boilermaker like his father and his elder brother John. His wife, Elizabeth Hesketh, born in 1854 in Fleetwood was probably the daughter of William Hesketh, a master mariner, and his wife Sarah (born in Mislow, Ireland) who ran refreshment rooms in Dock St in 1881. If so she must have been a twin, John, being noted as the same age. John was a joiner. Sarah J., 17, Richard 16, and Peter H., 14 all assisted in the 'inn' and there were also Mary, 9, Christina 7 and Charles, 6, all 'scholars'. Elizabeth is noted as a 'visitor' so it is not known where she was actually living at the time. Thomas and Elizabeth had married in the Jun Q 1873 and had one child then aged 7, listed alongside his father as a 'lodger', not as 'son' because Thomas was not the head of the household. They were in fact living with a Margaret Hesketh, wife of a master mariner like William Hesketh. Margaret, like Sarah, was born in Ireland - perhaps they were sisters who married brothers? There must be some relationship here so this is another 'coincidence' worth some research. Return

10. Francis - or Frank as he was known - was a blacksmith's striker. In 1881 he was lodging 4 Kemp St, Fleetwood with William Harper, boarding-house keeper, an Irishman from County Down. His co-lodgers were a saw mill hand, John James Collin (who must be his nephew, surely) and a French sailor, known simply as Louis (which suggests a language difficulty and/or an unpronounceable surname). Frank married Ellen Rogerson who was born in1864 in Fleetwood, the youngest of the seven children of William Rogerson, a brewer from Liverpool who came originally from Singleton. The Rogersons lived not far away at 10 West St (now Lord St) in 1881
'Uncle Frank' was a familiar figure at family musical evenings, playing his violin. His famous 'catchphrase' was "Give us an A, Biddy!" 'Biddy' was his name for Ellen, known to the rest of the family as 'Auntie Trish',( whose mother, Elizabeth Rossall, was not Irish as previously thought but born in 1823 in the Garstang area and married in 1845, probably in Great Eccleston - Free BMD Jun Q 1845 Garstang Vol.21 p.349). Frank died in 1924 but is still talked about by nieces who remember him. Ellen lived on for another 16 years. They had one child, Joseph, born about 1894 but no more is known of him at present. Return