Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster PC (19 August 1855 – 12 March 1909), known as H. O. Arnold-Forster, was a British politician and writer. He notably served as

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

from 1903 in Balfour's Conservative government until December 1905.

Background and education

Arnold-Forster was the son of

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 ...

, Director of Public Instruction in Punjab, and grandson of

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wide ...

, of Rugby. When his father died in 1859, he was adopted by

William Edward Forster William Edward Forster, PC, FRS (11 July 18185 April 1886) was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman. His supposed advocacy of the Irish Constabulary's use of lethal force against the National Land League ea ...

and his wife Jane, who was his father's sister. He was educated at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, from which he graduated with first class honours. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1879.

Political career

Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster, Vanity Fair, 1905-08-24, full page

Arnold-Forster acted as private secretary to his adoptive father, who became

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...

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 The Imperial Federation League was a 19th-century organisation which aimed to promote the reorganisation of the British Empire into an Imperial Federation, similarly to the way the majority of British North America confederated into the Dominion ...

from 1884. Arnold-Forster sat as

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

Member of Parliament for

West Belfast Belfast West can refer to: *The western part of Belfast. *Belfast West (Assembly constituency) * Belfast West (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency) *Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency) Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency ( ...

from 1892 to 1906 and Unionist member for

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

from 1906 until his death. He served as

Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...

under Lord Salisbury and

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...

from 1900 to 1903. As such, he was during August 1902 invited by German authorities to tour the dockyards and naval establishments in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

and

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

and several of the great private shipyards in the country. Balfour appointed him to

(with a seat in the cabinet) in 1903, and he served as such until 1905, during which time he reorganized the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

(see

Esher Report The Esher Report of 1904, chaired by Lord Esher, recommended radical reform of the British Army, such as the creation of an Army Council, General Staff and Chief of the General Staff and the abolition of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. The ...

). In 1903 he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

. During the Army reforms he clashed with Lord Esher, the King's minister attendant. He complained to the Prime Minister that he was being circumvented by an unelected and unaccountable authority vested in the royal prerogative. Balfour's proposal, to annexe some of the royal prerogatives, was partly because of the challenge to the post of Commander-in-Chief which was abolished as a royal sinecure. Arnold-Foster was frequently ignored at cabinet meetings, as decisions had been taken behind his back by courtiers moving in military circles.Jane Ridley, ''Bertie: the Life of Edward VII; Letters and Journals of Reginald Brett, Viscount Esher'', volume 2, 1903–1910; Peter Fraser, ''The Life and Times of Reginald Brett, Viscount Esher''

Family

Arnold-Forster married

Mary Lucy Story-Maskelyne Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

(1861–1951), daughter of

Nevil Story Maskelyne Mervyn Herbert Nevil Story Maskelyne (3 September 1823 – 20 May 1911) was an English geologist and politician. Scientific career Educated at Wadham College, Oxford, Maskelyne taught mineralogy and chemistry at Oxford from 1851, before becomin ...

and

Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn (1834 – 21 February 1926) was a Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography. Biography The eldest of six children, Llewelyn was born to photographer and botanist John Dillwyn Llewelyn and Emma Thomasina T ...

(Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography) 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 (8 May 1886 – 1951) artist, author and Labour politician, married Katherine "Ka" Laird Cox in 1918. She was the former lover of

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

. Their son was

Mark Arnold-Forster Mark Arnold-Forster, DSO, DSC (16 April 1920 – 25 December 1981) was an English journalist and author. He is best remembered for his book ''The World at War'', which accompanied the 1973 television series of the same name. Early years H ...

. After Cox's death, he married Ruth Mallory, widow of

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. Born in Cheshire, Mallory became a student at Winche ...

, the mountaineer. *Mervyn Nevill Arnold-Forster (21 March 1888 – 6 May 1927) *John Anthony Arnold-Forster (20 September 1889 – 1958), married Daphne Mansel-Pleydell in 1919. Vanda Morton, biographer of Nevil Story Maskelyne, is their daughter. *Hugh Christopher Arnold-Forster (9 December 1890 – 21 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

; married Marcia Buddicom in 1922 and Frances Brown in 1948. Arnold-Forster died in March 1909, aged fifty-three.

Publications

Arnold-Forster's publications include: * ''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''
* ''An English View of Irish Secession'' in Political Science Quarterly (Mar. 1889) * ''The Queen's Empire: A Pictorial and Descriptive Record'', 2 Volumes, 1899
''Military needs and military policy''

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold-Forster, Hugh Oakley 1855 births 1909 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Secretaries of State for War (UK) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of the London Borough of Croydon UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (1801–1922) British people of Cornish descent Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Irish constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom