Thomas Arnold

Thomas Arnold studied at Corpus Christi College, Winchester College and Warminster School. Richard Congreve is recorded as having studied under Thomas Arnold. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with University of Oxford and Rugby School. Positions recorded include head teacher and Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford.

• Name — Thomas Arnold • Born — 13 June 1795 • Birthplace — West Cowes, Isle of Wight, England • Died — 12 June 1842 • Place of death — Fox How, Ambleside, Westmorland, England • Resting Place — Rugby School Chapel, Rugby, Warwickshire, England • Education — Lord Weymouth's Grammar School; Winchester College • Alma Mater — Corpus Christi College, Oxford • Occupation — Educator and historian • Known for — Reforms to Rugby School (immortalised in Tom Brown's Schooldays) • Title — Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford • Term — 1841–1842 • Predecessor — Edward Nares • Successor — John Antony Cramer • Children — Matthew Arnold, Tom Arnold, William Delafield Arnold

Arnold was born on the Isle of Wight, the son of William Arnold, a Customs officer, and his wife Martha Delafield (sister to John Delafield). William Arnold was related to the Arnold family of gentry from Lowestoft. Thomas was educated at Warminster School, then Winchester College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He excelled in classics and was made a fellow of Oriel in 1815. He became headmaster of a school in Laleham before moving to Rugby.

Arnold was involved in not a few controversies, educational and religious. As a churchman he was a decided Erastian and strongly opposed to the High Church party. His 1833 Principles of Church Reform is linked with the beginnings of the Broad Church movement. In 1841, he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford.

Arnold's chief literary works are his unfinished History of Rome (three volumes, 1838–1842) and his Lectures on Modern History. Far more often read were his five books of sermons, which were admired by a wide circle of pious readers, including Queen Victoria.

Arnold married Mary Penrose, daughter of the Rev. John Penrose of Penryn, Cornwall. They had five daughters and five sons: • Jane Martha Arnold (1821–1899), married William Edward Forster • Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), poet and schools inspector • Thomas Arnold (1823–1900), literary scholar and Catholic convert • Mary Arnold (1825–1888), married (1) Alfred Twining, (2) Rev. John Simeon Hiley, (3) Rev. Robert Hayes • Rev. Edward Penrose Arnold (1826–1878), clergyman and schools inspector • William Delafield Arnold (1828–1859), author and colonial administrator • Susanna Elizabeth Lydia Arnold (1830–1911), married John Wakefield Cropper • Frances Trevenen Arnold (1832), died in infancy • Frances Bunsen Trevenen Whateley Arnold (1833–1923) • Walter Thomas Arnold (1835–1893) W. E. Forster and Jane both enjoyed mountaineering; they climbed Mont Blanc in 1859 and in 1860 Jane was one of the first women to stand on the summit of Monte Rosa, which had not been climbed by a woman until 1857. When William Delafield Arnold died in 1859 leaving four orphans, the Forsters adopted them as their own, adding their name to the children's surname. One of them was Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster, a Liberal Unionist MP, who eventually became a member of Balfour's cabinet. Another was Florence Vere O'Brien, a diarist, philanthropist and craftswoman who lived in Ireland. Frances Bunsen Trevenen Whateley Arnold, the youngest daughter, never married and died at Fox How in 1923. Arnold had bought the small estate of Fox How near Ambleside in the Lake District in 1832, and spent many holidays there. On Sunday, 12 June 1842, he died there suddenly of a heart attack "at the height of his powers", a day before his 47th birthday. He is buried in Rugby School chapel. Thomas the Younger's daughter Mary Augusta Arnold, became a well-known novelist under her married name, Mrs. Humphry Ward. His other daughter, Julia, married Leonard Huxley, the son of Thomas Huxley. Their sons were Julian and Aldous Huxley. Julia Arnold founded in 1902 Prior's Field School for girls in Godalming, Surrey.

Arnold has been played several times in adaptations of Tom Brown's School Days, including by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in the 1940 film version, Robert Newton in the 1951 film version, Iain Cuthbertson in the 1971 television version, and Stephen Fry in the 2005 television version.

• The Christian Duty of Granting the Claims of the Roman Catholics (pamphlet) Rugby, 1828 • Sermons Preached in the Chapel of Rugby School. London: Fellowes, 1850 (first edition, 1832) • Principles of Church Reform, Oxford: Fellowes,1833 • History of Rome, London: Fellowes, 1838, Volume I. Volume II. • Introductory Lectures on Modern History, London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1842 • Sermons: Christian Life, its Hopes, Fears and Close, London: Fellowes, 1842 • Sermons: Christian Life, its Course, its Hindrances, and its Helps, London: Fellowes, 1844 • As translator: The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, (3 vols.) London: Fellowes, 1845. Volume I. Volume II. Volume III. • The Interpretation of Scripture, London: Fellowes, 1845

His recorded language was English. His recorded confession was Anglicanism. He was the child of William Arnold and Martha Delafield. He married Mary Penrose. 4 children are recorded: Tom Arnold, William Delafield Arnold, Matthew Arnold and Jane Martha Arnold.

He was employed by University of Oxford and Rugby School. Recorded positions include head teacher and Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford.

Thomas Arnold, Arnold of Rugby: His school life and contributions to education (1897) online