An original work was commissioned by members of the Society after a resolution of February 1860 to raise subscriptions for a bust of their new President. The current bust is a copy, also by Munro, which was donated by Vickers Armstrong and replaces the damaged original. Born in Shieldfield, William Armstrong received a private education intended to prepare him for a career in law. He practised as a solicitor until the age of 36, but even as a boy had been attracted to engineering. In 1845 he gave a series of three lectures to The Literary & Philosophical Society on 'The Employment of a Column of Water as a Motive Power for Propelling Machinery'. In 1846 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1847 he opened business as W. G. Armstrong & Company, producing hydraulic cranes and subsequently also armaments and warships.