hastening
and coming upon the ungodly and workers of iniquity, but he was soon pulled
down, and a great tumult was made, and he was much beaten and abused. But
after some time, being taken notice of by a man whose name was John Armitstead
(who is still living) was invited to go with him to his mother's house,
whose name was Alice Armitstead, being a widow, whither he went and lodged
there."

A few years later, in 1670, Christopher Armitstead was fined fifteen
shillings for attending a Quaker meeting.

There is an almost complete list of the churchwardens of the parish
from 1638 onwards. In the first 25 years the name Armitstead appears twelve
times, more than any other. The name also occurs frequently in the lists
of constables.

Lord Armitstead

Perhaps the best known member of the family was George,Baron Armitstead
of Dundee. His great-grandfather was a farmer at Austwick in the neighbouring
parish of Clapham, whose son was vicar of Easingwold in East Yorkshire.
The vicar's younger son George was a jute merchant at Riga in Latvia. George,
this merchant's second son, became senior partner in the firm of Armitstead
and Co of Dundee and Riga. He was a JP and DL in Forfarshire, and Liberal
MP for Dundee 1863-73 and 1890-95. He was a great friend of William Gladstone,
and appears in some of Lawrence Housman's Victoria Regina plays . He was
a pallbearer at Gladstone's funeral , and was created Baron by Balfour
in 1906, having previously refused an offer by Gladstone in 1893. He died
at the age of 91 in 1915. He nephew Henry Alfred Armitstead, a member of
the same firm, appears