| Thomas
St. George Armstrong [1]. Thomas and John
Armstrong, sons of a British army colonel from Athlone, Co.
Westmeath, who was Church of Ireland, were sent by their father
to Buenos Aires before 1820 to run the merchant house Armstrong
& Co. In 1826, Thomas travelled to Ireland together with
Thomond O'Brien, trying to recruit immigrants from 'Ballymahon-Ballymore-Mullingar
area which straddles the Westmeath-Longford border. The Armstrong
family were the local landlords and were (and still are) highly
respected in that locality' [5]. When Father
Anthony Fahy arrived in Argentina, he moved into Thomas Armstrong's
house, 'He lived rent free, in his own apartment in Armstrong's
home for the rest of his life, the two remaining inseparable,
lifelong, friends. Armstrong had assimilated into the creole
community in typically Irish merchant fashion. He married
Justa Villanueva the daughter of the Alcalde (chief officer
under Spanish rule) of Buenos Aires of 1807. Being such a
powerful business figure and because of his wife's connections
Thomas Armstrong was also a very influential if unseen force
in the political life of the country. He was the business
counsellor and close friend of 'almost every Argentine governmental
administration from the Directorship of Rodriguez to the Presidency
of Avellaneda' acting as 'honest broker' (amigable componedor)
between the British and Argentine Governments in their commercial
affairs for over 40 years. Given that Argentina was dependant
on British capital which was antipathetic to the Catholic
church it was a master stroke of Fr. Fahy and the good fortune
of the Irish community that he was able to recruit to his
cause an Irish Protestant merchant, who so well understood
the Irish Catholic culture and who was in such sympathy with
it' [5]. 'The fact that Thomas Armstrong
was banker to Fr. Fahy enabled him to become one of the leading
business figures in Buenos Aires. He was a co-founder of the
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, a director of the Banco Provincia
which he made, in effect, the central bank of Argentina. He
was also the director and substantial investor in the major
railway company and served on the boards of most of the major
stock companies in the city. His connections with the creole
community were also beyond reproach' [5].
Thomas Armstrong's obituary at the Standard. [document]
La zona
oeste [de Cañada del Ucle], llamada Tierra de Maldonado,
pertenecía a la familia Lynen. Y la zona este, denominada
Colonia San Justo, a la familia de Don Tomás Armstrong.
En el año de 1827, Tomás de Saint George Armstrong de Garry
Castle contrajo matrimonio con Justa de Villanueva y López
Camelo, de cuya unión nacieron ocho hijos: Gabriel Jorge,
Isabel Francisca, Ema, Tomás Andrés, Justa Josefa, Juan
de la Cruz, María Dolores y Tomás de San Jorge. De los cuales
Gabriel Jorge, Tomás Andrés y Juan de la Cruz murieron infantes.
En 1863, el gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires
aceptó por decreto una propuesta para la construcción del
ferrocarril sur, que lleva al pié la firma de Tomás Armstrong,
Federico Elortondo y otros. En 1891 los sucesores
Armstrong, decidieron elevar a escrituras públicas el pacto
privado celebrado entre ellos el 25 de octubre de 1882. Debido
a la muerte de tres de los herederos, quedaron para recibir
el legado el resto de los hermanos [2].
En 1875
Thomas Armstrong, por ejemplo, era propietario de 36 casas
residenciales en el centro de Buenos Aires. Pero en general
los comerciantes británicos preferían invertir en las provincias
cuyas tierras ofreciesen productos exportables [3]. |
