Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong – Nordoff Robbins O2 Silver Clef Awards 2017 – Arrivals – Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane – London, UK – Photo Credit: Landmark / PR Photos
Birth Name: Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong
Place of Birth: Rothbury, Northumberland North Second, Northumberland, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 2 March, 1970
Ethnicity: English, some Irish and Northern Irish, distant Scottish
Alexander Armstrong is an English actor, television and radio presenter, and bass baritone singer. He is one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller, alongside Ben Miller.
Alexander is the son of Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland and Henry Angus Armstrong, a physician. He is married to Hannah Bronwen Snow, with whom he has four children. Hannah is the sister of journalist and food blogger Esther Walker.
He is a second cousin of actress and writer Imogen Stubbs.
Alexander’s paternal grandfather was Reginald Armstrong (the son of Henry Armstrong and Maud Clapham). Reginald was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland, England. Henry was the son of Henry Armstrong and Elizabeth Burnett. Maud was the daughter of Henry Clapham and Esther Mary Watson. Esther’s brother was solicitor, reformer, politician, and writer Robert Spence Watson.
Alexander’s paternal grandmother was Phyllis Alison Fenwick (the daughter of James Charles Fenwick and Margaret Beatrice Wilson). Phyllis was born in Northumberland. James was the son of John Charles James Fenwick and Frances Eleanor Burrell. Margaret was the daughter of William Wilson and Margaret Dawson.
Alexander’s maternal grandfather was Lucius Perronet Thompson-McCausland (the son of John Perronet Thompson and Ada Lucia Tyrrell). Lucius was a prominent economist. John was the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, from 1928 and 1932, and was the son of Vincent Thomas Thompson and Eleanor Wade. Ada was the daughter of Irish parents, Robert Yelverton Tyrrell and Ada Shaw.
Alexander’s maternal grandmother was Helen Laura McCausland (the daughter of Maurice Marcus McCausland and Eileen Leslie Ogilby). Maurice was the son of Connolly Thomas McCausland, who was born in Ireland, to an Irish father and an English mother, and of Laura St. John, whose own father was St Andrew St John, 15th Baron St John of Bletso. Eileen was the daughter of Robert Alexander Ogilby, who was Northern Irish, and of Helen Sarah Wheeler.
Sources: Genealogies of Alexander Armstrong – https://www.geni.com
http://www.thepeerage.com
https://gw.geneanet.org
He is a descendant of William the Conquerer, meaning he is of Norman ancestry
Erm, anybody with a name like Henry Angus Armstrong (his dad) would, I wager, have more than a hint of Scottish in his blood. Most of Alexander’s descendants have Scottish names.
The distant Scottish ancestry is from his mother’s side. There is no Scottish-born ancestor listed in his father’s genealogy. But given some of the names, like Armstrong, and the fact that almost all his paternal ancestors were from Northumberland, it is possible his father too has some. But it doesn’t seem like it is a big component of his ancestry.
I suspect that the genealogies showing Canadian ancestors are wrong and that this is right:
https://gw.geneanet.org/frebault?lang=en&n=armstrong&nz=frebault&oc=0&ocz=0&p=alexander&pz=henri&type=tree
So change his ethnicity to English, some Irish and Ulster-Scots, distant Scottish
John was the son of Canadian parents, John Thompson and Mary McGregor —> John was the son of Vincent Thomas Thompson and Eleanor Wade