Background
Edward Allworthy Armstrong was born at Corlea, Lowwood, Belfast on 8 October 1900, the younger child and only son of Hamilton Armstrong, manufacturer"s agent, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Susan.
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Edward Armstrong
Edit ProfileEducation
He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and then at Queen"s University, Belfast, studying science in his first year then switching to philosophy, obtaining a Bachelor (hons) in 1921. He later studied anthropology and Chinese at Hong Kong University and obtained an Master of Arts in the history and philosophy of religion and in Chinese studies from Leeds University.
Career
As a young priest he travelled widely, serving in parishes in Doncaster, Ispwich, Hong Kong, and Leeds before settling in Cambridge in 1943 where he lived for the rest of his life. He died in December 1978. As an ornithologist, he was known for his study of bird behaviour and his intensive study of the wren (Troglodytes troglodytes).
He travelled to many remote islands - including the Shetlands, Iceland, and Street Kilda - to study the wren.
In the 1960s he travelled to East Africa to study and to record "duetting" in birds. He published a number of ornithological texts including Birds of the Grey Wind (1940), Bird display and behaviour (1942), The Way Birds Live (1943), the New Naturalist monograph The Wren (1955), The folklore of birds: an enquiry into the origin and distribution of some magico-religious traditions (1958), The Study of Bird Song (1963) and The Life and Lore of the Bird (1975).
He also published two theological works books related to his work as a priest, The Gospel Parables (1967) and Saint Francis: Nature Mystic (1973), and a book which was initially intended as an assessment of how good a naturalist Shakespeare was, Shakespeare's imagination: A study of the psychology of association and inspiration (1946). He eventually demonstrated that Shakespeare was no naturalist at all! He was awarded the Burroughs Medal in the United States in 1942 for his book about his childhood in Ireland, Birds of the Grey Wind.
In 1951 he became a Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists" Union and received an honorary Master of Arts from Cambridge University.
He was Vice President of the British Ornithologists’ Union from 1963 to 1965.
Achievements
Membership
In 1952 he became a member of Jesus College, Cambridge.
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Born
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Died
1978 (aged 77) -
Nationality
United Kingdom