Wm. Armstrong Jr. was born July 10, 1850 the second oldest of six children of William Armstrong Sr. & Anne Beatty.
Ireland was still recovering from "The Great Potato Famine" which had resulted in the death of one million Irish people & the immigration of another one million to other nations of the world between 1845-1849. Times were hard. 43% of Donegal lived in the lowest class housing of that time. Less than 20% on the population were literate & many were share-farmers.
His mother, Anne (Beatty) Armstrong recorded in the back of the Family Bible that "William Armstrong Jr. left Millview for Australia March 24, 1873 then onto New Zealand." So, at the age of 23 years old, William made the 75-100 day voyage to a new land. Food rations would have been bad & conditions below deck extremely poor with the threat of both deadly disease & ship wreck ever present.
I can only imagine the excitement that would have swept through the ship when the New Zealand coast came into view with it's beautiful sandy shores & green rolling hills!
As we continue our research into the Beatty & Armstrong families, we are truly grateful for the sacrifice of all the ancestors who have gone before us.