Children
Joseph married Sarah Burdon in 1848. They had nine children, four of whom were apprenticed at Swindon:
- Thomas Armstrong (1849–1908). On his father's death he left the GWR, subsequently working as a salesman for engineering companies.
- John Armstrong (1851–1931). On Joseph's death he became Assistant Divisional Locomotive Superintendent, under William Dean. From 1882 he was Divisional Locomotive Superintendent of the Paddington Division, where one of his duties was to supervise the running of the royal train. He retired in 1916. His son Ralph (b.1880) worked for the GWR for some 50 years up to his retirement in 1946, just two years before nationalisation.
- Joseph ("Young Joe") Armstrong (1856–1888). His constitution was not strong and he travelled to South Africa, and later the Mediterranean, for the sake of his health. Together with the young George Jackson Churchward he developed a system of automatic braking system, which was used on the GWR and the Western Region until well after nationalisation. "Young Joe" succeeded his brother John as Dean's assistant, and in 1885 moved to Wolverhampton where he took up a similar post under his uncle, George. Tragically, this 'genius of the family' committed suicide on New Year's Day 1888, apparently with the aim of paying off £500 of debts by means of a life insurance policy. Years later, Churchward would comment generously that had "Young Joe" survived, he, and not Churchward, would have been William Dean's successor.
- Irving Armstrong (1862–1935). After serving his apprenticeship at Swindon, Irving became a minister in the Methodist church.
In 1873 the GWR built a large family house for the Armstrongs, Newburn House, located south-east of Swindon Works and station. Dean and Churchward both subsequently lived there, but the childless Colletts chose to live elsewhere, and Newburn House was demolished in 1937. The present-day Newburn Crescent is on the site.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Armstrong (engineer)
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