Anderson [Armstrong], Mary

Born near Alwinton [NW of Rothbury]; In 1891 she lived at Rothley West Shield, where her father was a shepherd; In the late 1880s and early 1890s she played at several concerts in the region, in some of which her teacher Thomas Todd participated, as well; In January 1888 she played at a charitable New Year dinner at Cragside, where she worked as a maid; On October 25, 1888, she played at the Masonic Hall, Morpeth, to illustrate the lecture "The Northumberland Pipes and Ballads", given by Dr. J. Collingwood Bruce, F.S.A. (1805-1892), of Newcastle; Having married, she is thought to be the "Mrs. Armstrong" (from Hangwell Law, [N of Eglingham]) who was listed as an "Honorary Playing Member of the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society" in the »Transactions of the Society« for 1894 and 1896/7; Few records have been found containing details of her musical life after that, but her family stated that she had played before King Edward VII (who visited Alnwick Castle several times in the early 1900s); The 1911 census, shows her living in Glanton [NE of Rothbury]; Her brother also played Northumbrian smallpipes; NB: Reliable information on Ms Anderson was hard to find (On the internet only 2 sources refer to her as a piper). Mainly because Mary was 1 of the very few female pipers, and the only female member of the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society (1893-1900), I decided to try and collect as much as I could find, and include as much details as possible in this entry…
NB¹: ➺ Survey of female pipers; NB²: ➺ Joe Hutton.