Our Lejeune and de Neufville ancestors were part of a remarkable trans‑European Huguenot diaspora that sacrificed land, title and security to preserve their religious conscience.
After the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes that made Protestantism illegal, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled France. Our ancestors ended up in Frankfurt, and rebuilt their lives alongside other Huguenots as merchants, civil leaders and cultural contributors to this German city they now called home.
If you are curious to learn more, join us! The Marion Project team will be hosting a global family Learning Event on May 30 (North America) / May 31 (Europe & Australia), 2026 to share more of our family’s history with you!
The Marion Project - A Family History 
Henry Peter Armstrong (first german name : Hermann Pieter Enke) is one of your ancestors. He was, in 1923-1925, the owner of the yacht “Gilnockie” in Belgium. This yacht is still sailing in Douarnenez (France). I’ve discovered a part of the life of this man on your blog to write the history of the boat. Are you interested by that ? Have a look on skeaf.org
Regards Gildas
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That is an additional piece of information concerning Peter Armstrong of which I was unaware. Thanks for comment.
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Do you want to read my synthesis about Peter Armstrong ( in french) ?
I’m still looking news about Gilnockie and specilly the issue number 40 of the “Fédération royale belge du yachting,” « Wandelaer – Sur l’eau » in 1926 where there is an article about this yacht.
If you have contacts in Belgium…
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Yes, please, I’d love to read your synthesis about Peter Armstrong. That would be wonderful.
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Skeaf de 1920 à 1962
Synthèse (oct 24) des propriétaires de Skeaf entre 1920 et 1969 avec, ensuite à suivre, les éléments biographiques et historiques de chaque moment.
Après la livraison du bateau en 1919 à Henry Horn par Abeking&Rasmussen, le chantier de construction à Brème en Allemagne, Skeaf se retrouve en Ecosse dès 1920 dans le cadre possible des réparations de guerre.
1920-1923 James Howden Hume, important industriel écossais de la Clyde, acquiert le bateau et le nomme Eroica. Il le vend en 1923 à Henry Peter Armstrong. Pas de lien démontré entre les deux.
Que fait le bateau ? Son port d’attache est Greenock sur l’estuaire de la Clyde à 50 km de Glasgow. Il navigue en famille dans les Hébrides et régate avec ses autres yachts.
……
1923-1925 Henry Peter Armstrong, de son premier nom Hermann Pieter Enke, est d’origine allemande mais né à Manchester. Son père et lui reprennent une activité de production de feutre à Eeklo en Belgique en 1891. Le père avait déjà cette activité à Manchester et ils gardent plus ou moins les deux affaires. L’activité prospère et il achète le bateau en 1923, le renomme Gilnockie, mais l’entreprise rentre probablement dans une période de turbulences. Il le vend en 1925 à Thomas Picton Rose-Richards et semble quitter un moment la Belgique pour le SO de la France. Pas de lien démontré entre les deux.
Que fait le bateau ? Toujours présent dans les registres du Lloyds à Greenock, il n’y a pas pour l’instant de traces de son activité. Cependant la revue de la Fédération royale belge du yachting consacre en 1926 un article à Gilnockie. Il semble donc avoir été familier des eaux belges et de la Manche.
…..
and, in extenso…..
-3- Gilnockie, Henry Peter Armstrong, Pinehurst, Eecloo (Eeklo), Belgium – 1923/1925
Hermann Peter Enke nait dans les faubourgs de Manchester en 1876 de parents d’origine allemande (Hermann Enke & Caroline Auguste Pöting) originaires des alentours de Dusseldorf 1). Son père, Hermann Enke, s’occupe de production de poil de lapin servant à fabriquer du feutre pour les chapeliers de cette grande ville industrielle anglaise. Son fils Hermann Peter se marie lui-même en avril 1904 à Alice Isabel Lunt au même endroit et ils émigrent d’Angleterre en Belgique l’année suivante pour s’installer dans la toute récente villa Pinehurst 2) à Eecloo (Eeklo) où son père Hermann Enke est devenu industriel fabricant de fournitures pour chapeliers (Feutre de poils de lapins). Le père, qui a repris à son compte une affaire en faillite en 1891 et le fils travaille ensemble en gardant ,semble-t-il, un pied à Manchester. Ils ont chacun une magnifique villa témoignant de la rentabilité de leur industrie. En 1915, Herman Pieter Enke, réfugié en Angleterre pendant la guerre et donc de nationalité britannique de naissance, devient entre temps Henry Peter Armstrong en réponse au virulent sentiment anti-allemand de l’époque. Il rentre en Belgique après guerre et leur activité, stoppée par les hostilités, redémarre. L’entreprise fournira avant la WW2 le tiers du feutre flamand. Il possède Gilnockie deux ans, acheté à Howden Hume en 1923 puis Gilnockie II quelques années ensuite. Où sont-t-ils stationnés ? Gilnockie, nouveau nom d’Eroica, évoque le site ancestral du clan Armstrong 3). Ce nom pour ses bateaux est probablement une sorte d’hommage à ce nouveau nom d ‘»Armstrong » pris 10 ans auparavant. Ces bateaux navigant sous pavillon britannique, et avec Greenock comme HP, indiquent peut-être une présence en Belgique moins fréquente. Il est à Eeklo depuis vingt ans mais sans doute souvent aussi outre Manche. Ses enfants se marieront à Manchester. Son père est probablement déjà malade car il décède à Eeklo en début 1926 tandis que son associé, Arthur Gillis a monté alors quelques mois avant une activité concurrente. L’entreprise traverse sans doute des turbulences. Il vend Gilnockie à Thomas Picton Rose-Richards. La ville Pinehurst est elle aussi vendue en 1928 et son adresse du Lloyds change pour une adresse française tandis qu’il possède maintenant Gilnockie II construit à Gand en 1927. Un de ses fils, Max Enke, né en 1884, reprendra l’usine de 1930 à 1939. La revue de la Fédération royale belge du yachting, « Wandelaer – Sur l’eau » consacre en 1926 un article à Gilnockie dans son numéro 40. Né en 1876 Décède en 1967
Domiciles : Pinehurst, Eecloo (Eeklo), Belgium ; La Roque, Ondres (Landes), France ; Horam, Sussex Bateaux corrigés dates LR :Gilnockie 1923/1925, Gilnockie II
1925/1928 HAMERLYNCK. Willy. The German-British family Enke alias Armstrong at Eeklo, in De Eik, 1993, XVIII, 1, pp. 29-40.
1) https://projectmarion.ca/henry-peter-armstrong/
2) https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/47982
3) D’autres Armstrong ont eu un yacht Gilnockie : https://wolfeborohistoricalsociety.org/d_archive/jpg/Boating/OB1/slide_04.php
Regards
Gildas Hémon
English Translation
Skeaf from 1920 to 1962 Summary (Oct 24) of Skeaf’s owners between 1920 and 1969, followed by biographical and historical information for each period.
After the boat was delivered in 1919 to Henry Horn by Abeking & Rasmussen, the shipyard in Bremen, Germany, Skeaf arrived in Scotland in 1920, possibly as part of war reparations.
1920-1923: James Howden Hume, a prominent Scottish industrialist on the Clyde, acquired the boat and named it Eroica. He sold it in 1923 to Henry Peter Armstrong. No proven connection between the two.
What did the boat do? Its home port was Greenock on the Clyde estuary, 50 km from Glasgow. It was sailed by the family in the Hebrides and raced with their other yachts. …
1923-1925 Henry Peter Armstrong, born Hermann Pieter Enke, was of German origin but born in Manchester. He and his father took over a felt manufacturing business in Eeklo, Belgium, in 1891. His father already had this business in Manchester, and they more or less maintained both operations. The business prospered, and he bought the boat in 1923, renaming it Gilnockie, but the company likely entered a period of difficulty. He sold it in 1925 to Thomas Picton Rose-Richards and seems to have left Belgium for a time, moving to southwestern France. No connection between the two has been proven.
What was the boat doing? Still listed in the Lloyds registers in Greenock, there is currently no record of its activity. However, the magazine of the Royal Belgian Yachting Federation published an article about Gilnockie in 1926. It therefore seems to have been familiar with Belgian waters and the English Channel. … and, in full… -3- Gilnockie, Henry Peter Armstrong, Pinehurst, Eecloo (Eeklo), Belgium – 1923/1925 Hermann Peter Enke was born in the suburbs of Manchester in 1876 to parents of German origin (Hermann Enke & Caroline Auguste Pöting) from the Düsseldorf area. His father, Hermann Enke, was involved in the production of rabbit fur used to make felt for hatters in this large English industrial city. His son, Hermann Peter, married Alice Isabel Lunt in April 1904 in the same place, and they emigrated from England to Belgium the following year, settling in the newly built villa Pinehurst in Eecloo (Eeklo), where his father, Hermann Enke, had become an industrial manufacturer of supplies for hatters (rabbit fur felt). The father, who took over a bankrupt business in 1891, and the son worked together, apparently maintaining a presence in Manchester. They each owned a magnificent villa, a testament to the profitability of their business. In 1915, Herman Pieter Enke, a refugee in England during the war and therefore a British citizen by birth, changed his name to Henry Peter Armstrong in response to the virulent anti-German sentiment of the time. He returned to Belgium after the war, and their business, halted by the hostilities, restarted. Before World War II, the company supplied a third of Flemish felt. He owned Gilnockie for two years, purchased from Howden Hume in 1923, and then Gilnockie II a few years later. Where were they docked? Gilnockie, the new name for Eroica, evokes the ancestral site of the Armstrong clan. This name for his boats is probably a kind of tribute to the new name “Armstrong” adopted ten years earlier. These ships, sailing under the British flag and with Greenock as their home port, perhaps indicate a less frequent presence in Belgium. He had been in Eeklo for twenty years, but undoubtedly also often across the Channel. His children would marry in Manchester. His father was probably already ill, as he died in Eeklo in early 1926, while his partner, Arthur Gillis, had set up a competing business a few months earlier. The company was likely going through a difficult period. He sold Gilnockie to Thomas Picton Rose-Richards. Pinehurst was also sold in 1928, and its Lloyd’s address changed to a French one, while it now owned Gilnockie II, built in Ghent in 1927. One of his sons, Max Enke, born in 1884, ran the shipyard from 1930 to 1939. The magazine of the Royal Belgian Yachting Federation, “Wandelaer – Sur l’eau” (On the Water), devoted an article to Gilnockie in its 40th issue in 1926. Born in 1876, died in 1967.
Residences: Pinehurst, Eeklo, Belgium; La Roque, Ondres, France; Horam, Sussex. Boats with corrected dates: Gilnockie 1923/1925, Gilnockie II
1925/1928 HAMERLYNCK, Willy. The German-British family Enke alias Armstrong at Eeklo, in De Eik, 1993, XVIII, 1, pp. 29-40.
1) https://projectmarion.ca/henry-peter-armstrong/
2) https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/47982
3) Other Armstrongs had a Gilnockie yacht: https://wolfeborohistoricalsociety.org/d_archive/jpg/Boating/OB1/slide_04.php
Regards
Gildas Hémon
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Thank you, Gildas, for this history.
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You’re welcome ! Searching about the history of the former owners of Skeaf/Eroica/Gilnockie/Polaris is very amazing.
Now the boat is at Concarneau for some repairs and we have to finish next week to paint the hull before going back to sea at the end of February !
Where are you all living ? Canada ?
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Merci beaucoup, Gildas!
Our family is in Canada, the US, Australia and the UK. Peter Henry Armstrong’s descendants live in the UK currently.
The Oaklands house mentioned in your post is still alive and well in Eekloo. It houses a local municipality office and they actually have historical photos of the Enke family in there. The property is now a park and the old barn is a pub that the local rugby club uses after they play on the field that is in the park.
https://www.eeklo.be/kasteelheldenpark
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