Francis Fraser Armstrong (1813–1897) was a Scottish

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

pioneer of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

who befriended and recorded the language of the

Nyungar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

people in Western Australia. His father Adam Armstrong, was a well known early settler of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Biography

Armstrong was born on 22 November 1813 in Scotland, at the town of

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

, from where his father and siblings emigrated in 1829. They travelled to the colony in Western Australia, disembarking at Fremantle and settling on the Swan River at a district that came to be known as the suburb of

Dalkeith, Western Australia Dalkeith is an affluent suburb of Perth, Western Australia within the City of Nedlands. The suburb is surrounded on three sides by the Swan River. History The suburb takes its name from a cottage built in 1833 by Captain Adam Armstrong and his ...

. Armstrong joined with the Methodists who settled at Tranby House and was active in the founding a society. He was superintendent of a

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...

established for the displaced inhabitants at the

Perth Water Perth Water is a section of the Swan River on the southern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It is between the Causeway to the east, and Narrows Bridge to the west – a large wide but shallow section of river, ...

foreshore near Mount Eliza. His appointment to the mission brought him into closer contact with Nyungar peoples, where he assimilated the

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

and published texts on some dialectal variants. He was appointed by the administration of the colony to the role of 'Native Interpreter' in December 1834. Armstrong made collections of birds that were amongst the earliest contributions to the ornithology of the state. The botanist Alex George noted his work in obtaining and preserving plants and animals for sale, but states he is not recorded as the collector of taxonomic specimens. The ornithologists

Dominic Serventy Dominic Louis Serventy (28 March 1904 – 8 August 1988) was a Perth -based Western Australian ornithology, ornithologist. He was president of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) 1947–1949. He assisted with the initial organisa ...

and

Hubert Whittell Hubert Massey Whittell OBE (24 March 1883 – 7 February 1954) was a British army officer, and later an Australian farmer and ornithologist who compiled a history and bibliography of ornithology in Australia from its origins until the mid-20th ...

assume that Armstrong was advised and aided in obtaining birds by his Nyungar friends and associates, and later encounters with the professional field workers John Gilbert and

Ludwig Preiss Johann August Ludwig Preiss (21 November 1811 – 21 May 1883) was a German-born British botanist and zoologist. Early life Preiss was born in Herzberg am Harz. He obtained a doctorate, probably at Hamburg, then emigrated to Western Australia. ...

. He recorded in a letter that his spare time was focused on birds, and had advertised his services and collections of prepared specimens for sale. He died at

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

22 May 1897. A window at the Wesley Church commemorates his contributions. A text published in 1836, ''Manners and habits of the Aborigines of Western Australia'', was reissued in 1979 as part of a collection on Nyungar people.

References

* Ronald E Turner, Foundations Not Made with Hands (Perth, 1984); * Wesley Lutton, The Wesley Story (Perth, 1970); * Thomas Farmer, Journal (Battye Library); * William McNair, 'Righteousness Developed into Intelligent Goodness' (Western Methodist, Sept 1965); * William McNair and Hilary Rumley, Pioneer Aboriginal Mission (Perth, 1981) {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Francis 1813 births 1897 deaths People from Dalkeith Methodist missionaries in Australia Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Scottish Methodist missionaries Settlers of Western Australia 19th-century Methodists