Frank Armstrong

Frank was born in 1880 the son of Isaac a carter and Ann Armstrong, (née Thompson) of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. His siblings were Isaac, Ann, Harriett and Edith. In 1881 the family was living at Wood Court, Mansfield. On 24th July 1882 his father appeared at the Nottingham Court and found guilty of sheep stealing and sentenced to five years imprisonment. This was his sixteenth conviction in the previous 5 years. The imprisonment seems to have led to the family falling on hard times. In 1891 Isaac was again in jail, Dartmoor this time. His two children Ann and Frank were in the Mansfield Union Workhouse. By the 1901 Census , Isaac had died leaving Ann and Edith to live in Bancroft Lane Mansfield. In 1911 Ann was living with her married daughter Ann Burton at 6 Victoria Terrace Brick Yard Mansfield. No trace can be found of Frank on any census after 1891 so it would appear that he may have joined the army to escape his desperate home background.