[1][2][5] As the eldest son of George Armstrong, a woollen-draper, his early education in engineering began with work in the locomotive depots and repair shops of the Great Northern Railway in his home of Doncaster.
[1][2] Throughout 1879 he undertook elaborate observations and experiments to determine the diurnal variations in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the results were then published through the Royal Society.
[8] In 1885, Armstrong (who was of Scottish descent) was appointed by the Crown to become the second Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, a post which he held until his death.
"[4] By all accounts the lecture was a success, being quoted in a debate by the leader of the House of Commons, Sir Stafford Northcote, and leading to an endowment by the wealthy brewer of the eponymous Fulton Laboratory at the university in 1889.
"[9] Perhaps under the influence of writer Charles Kingsley, Armstrong inaugurated courses on sanitary engineering for the benefit of the medical students studying public health.
[1] Armstrong gave special attention to questions regarding water supply sanitation and became engineering adviser to the Local Government Board for Scotland under the Public Health Act.
[4][5] After suffering from heart problems for several months, which necessitated a leave of absence, George Armstrong died at his home in the village of Grasmere on 16 November 1900.