Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

movement. As headmaster of

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widely copied by other noted public schools. His reforms redefined standards of masculinity and achievement.

Early life and education

Arnold was born on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

, the son of William Arnold, a

Customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

officer, and his wife Martha Delafield. William Arnold was related to the Arnold family of

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

from Lowestoft. Thomas was educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School,

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church o ...

, at Winchester, and at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

. 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.

Career as an educator

Rugby School

Arnold's appointment to the headship of

in 1828, after some years as a private tutor, turned the school's fortunes around. His force of character and religious zeal enabled him to make it a model for other public schools and exercise a strong influence on the education system of England. Though he introduced history, mathematics and modern languages, he based his teaching on the

classical language A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of th ...

s. "I assume it as the foundation of all my view of the case, that boys at a public school never will learn to speak or pronounce French well, under any circumstances," and so it would be enough if they could "learn it grammatically as a dead language." Physical science was not taught because, in Arnold's view, "it must either take the chief place in the school curriculum, or it must be left out altogether." Arnold was also opposed to the materialistic tendency of physical science, a view deriving from his Christian idealism. He wrote that "rather than have

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phys ...

the principal thing in my son's mind, I would gladly have him think that the sun went round the earth, and that the stars were so many spangles set in the bright blue firmament. Surely the one thing needful for a Christian and an Englishman to study is Christian and moral and political philosophy." Arnold developed the '' praepostor'' (

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

) system, in which sixth-form students were given powers over every part of the school (managed by himself) and kept order in the establishment. The 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes, ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'', portrays a generation of boys "who feared the Doctor with all our hearts, and very little besides in heaven or earth; who thought more of our sets in the School than of the Church of Christ, and put the traditions of Rugby and the public opinion of boys in our daily life above the laws of God." Arnold was no great enthusiast for sport, which was permitted only as an alternative to poaching or fighting with local boys and did not become part of Rugby's curriculum until 1850. He described his educational aims as being the cure of souls first, moral development second, and intellectual development third. However, this did not prevent Baron de Coubertin from considering him the father of the organized sport he admired when he visited English public schools, including Rugby in 1886. When looking at Arnold's tomb in the school chapel he recalled that he felt suddenly as if he were looking on "the very cornerstone of the British empire". Coubertin is thought to have exaggerated the importance of sport to Thomas Arnold, whom he viewed as "one of the founders of athletic chivalry". The character-forming influence of sport, with which Coubertin was so impressed, is more likely to have originated in the novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' than exclusively in the ideas of Arnold himself. "Thomas Arnold, the leader and classic model of English educators," wrote Coubertin, "gave the precise formula for the role of athletics in education. The cause was quickly won. Playing fields sprang up all over England."''Physical exercises in the modern world''. Lecture given at the Sorbonne, November 1892.

Oxford University

Arnold was involved in not a few controversies, educational and religious. As a churchman he was a decided

Erastian Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...

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 The Regius Professor of History at the University of Oxford is a long-established professorial position. Holders of the title have often been medieval historians. The first appointment was made in 1724. The term "Regius" reflects the origins of ...

Works

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 Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

Family

Arnold married Mary Penrose, daughter of the Rev. John Penrose of Penryn,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

. They had five daughters and five sons, including the poet Matthew Arnold, the literary scholar Tom, the author

William Delafield Arnold William Delafield Arnold (7 April 1828 – 9 April 1859) was a British author and colonial administrator. He was the fourth son of Thomas Arnold who was the headmaster of Rugby School. His older brothers included the poet and critic Matthew Arn ...

and Edward Penrose Arnold, an inspector of schools.David Hopkinson (1981), ''Edward Penrose Arnold, A Victorian Family Portrait''. One daughter died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Jane Martha, married William Edward Forster. 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 Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. 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 Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's lar ...

in the Lake District in 1832, and spent many holidays there. On 12 June 1842 he died there suddenly of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

"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 Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...

. Their sons were Julian and Aldous Huxley. Julia Arnold founded in 1902

Prior's Field School Prior's Field is an independent girls' boarding and day school in Guildford, Surrey in the south-east of England. Founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, it stands in 42 acres of parkland, 34 miles south-west of London and adjacent to the A3 road, whic ...

for girls in

Godalming, Surrey Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlement ...

.''Prior's Field School – A Century Remembered 1902–2002'' by Margaret Elliott, published by Prior's Field School Trust Ltd, .

Reputation

''The Life of Doctor Arnold'', published two years after his death by one of Arnold's former pupils,

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, (13 December 1815 – 18 July 1881), known as Dean Stanley, was an English Anglican priest and ecclesiastical historian. He was Dean of Westminster from 1864 to 1881. His position was that of a Broad Churchman and he wa ...

, is seen as one of the best works of its class in the language and added to his growing reputation. A popular life of Arnold by the novelist Emma Jane Guyton also appeared. In 1896 his bust was unveiled in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

alongside that of his son,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' asserted, "As much as any who could be named, Arnold helped to form the standard of manly worth by which Englishmen judge and submit to be judged." However, his reputation suffered as one of the '' Eminent Victorians'' in Lytton Strachey's book of that title published in 1918. A more recent public-school headmaster, Michael McCrum of

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

in the 1960s to 1980s, also a churchman and Oxbridge academic (Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Vice-Chancellor), wrote a biography and reappraisal of Arnold in 1991. He had briefly been a master at Rugby and was married to the daughter of another former headmaster. More recently, a biography entitled ''Black Tom'' was written by Terence Copley. Both McCrum and Copley seek to restore some lustre to the Arnold legacy, which had been under attack since Strachey's sardonic appraisal. A. C. Benson once observed of Arnold, "A man who could burst into tears at his own dinner-table on hearing a comparison made between St. Paul and St. John to the detriment of the latter, and beg that the subject might never be mentioned again in his presence, could never have been an ''easy'' companion."J. A. Gere and John Sparrow, eds, ''Geoffrey Madan's Notebooks'', Oxford University Press, 1981.

Depictions on screen

Arnold has been played several times in adaptations of ''

'', including by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in the 1940 film version,

Robert Newton Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...

in the 1951 film version, Iain Cuthbertson in the 1971 television version, and Stephen Fry in the 2005 television version.

Works

*''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 *''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'', London: Fellowes, 1844 *As translator: ''The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides'', (3 vols.) London: Fellowes, 1845 *''The Interpretation of Scripture'', London: Fellowes, 1845

Notes

External links

* * * *Archival material at {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Thomas Huxley family Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests Head Masters of Rugby School People from Cowes People educated at Winchester College People educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School 1795 births 1842 deaths Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford)

Early life and education

Career as an educator

Rugby School

Oxford University

Works

Family

Reputation

Depictions on screen

Works

Notes

Further reading

Primary sources

External links