Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster

Rt.Hon.Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster PC (19 August 1855-12 March 1909) was a British politician.

Family

He was the son of William Delafield Arnold, Director of Public Instruction in the Punjab, and grandson of Thomas Arnold of Rugby. When his father died in 1859, he was adopted by William Edward Forster and his wife Jane, who was his father's sister.

He married Mary Lucy Story-Maskelyne (1861-1951), daughter of Nevil Story Maskelyne, in 1885. They had four sons, of whom his Times obituary states "the eldest is just beginning to practise as an artist, and the youngest is a naval cadet." They were :

* William Edward Arnold-Forster (8th May 1886-1951) artist, author & Labour politician, married Katherine "Ka" Laird Cox in 1918. She was the former lover of Rupert Brooke. Their son was Mark Arnold-Forster.
* Mervyn Nevill Arnold-Forster (21st March 1888- 6th May 1927)
* John Anthony Arnold-Forster (20th September 1889-1958), married Daphne Mansel-Pleydell in 1919. Vanda Morton, biographer of Nevil Story Maskelyne, is their daughter.
* Hugh Christopher Arnold-Forster (9th December 1890- 21st July 1965), who rose to become a Commander in the Royal Navy and served as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence during the Second World War; married Marcia Buddicom in 1922 and Frances Brown in 1948.

Career

He was educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford, from which he graduated with 1st Class Honours. He was called to the bar in 1879. He acted as private secretary to his adoptive father, who became Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1880. He joined Cassell & Co. in 1885, for whom he prepared educational manuals, including the "Citizen Reader" series. He was secretary of the Imperial Federation League from 1884.

He was Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for West Belfast from 1892-1906 and Unionist member for Croydon from 1906 until his death.

He served in Government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty from 1900-1903 and as Secretary of State for War from 1903-1905, during which time he reorganized the War Office (see Esher Report).

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1903.

Publications

His publications included

* "How to Solve the Irish Land Question"
* "The Citizen Reader"
* "The Laws of Everyday Life"
* "This World of Ours"
* "In a Conning Tower"
* "Things New and Old"
* "Our Home Army"
* "A History of England"
* "Army Letters"
* "The Coming of the Kilogram"
* "Our Great City"
* "The Army in 1906: a Policy and a Vindication"
* "English Socialism of To-Day".

References

* Vanda Morton : "Oxford rebels : the life and friends of Nevil Story Maskelyne 1823-1911 : pioneer Oxford scientist, photographer and politician", 1987 ISBN 0-86299-456-X

Sources

*Concise Dictionary of National Biography
*Who Was Who