ARMSTRONG, JOHN PHILIP (1828-1906) was born in Wexford, Ireland, and trained as a chemist in Dublin, where he qualified as a dentist. In 1848 he went to America, returning to Ireland in 1850, and emigrating almost at once to Victoria, where he spent ten years on the goldfields practising as a dentist. The gold discoveries at Gabriel's Gully attracted him to New Zealand and he established himself in Dunedin in 1861. He represented Mount Ida in the Provincial Council (1871-73 and 1875). Armstrong was a prominent freemason (a founder of lodge Dunedin) and was keenly interested in cremation. He published in the Otago Daily Times his reminiscences of The Adventures of an Irish Pilgrim. His death occurred on 11 Feb 1906.

Cycl. NZ., iv (p); Otago Daily Times, 26 Feb 1906.

Reference: Volume 1, page 25

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