The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Arnold, Thomas
Arnold, Thomas, M.A., is the second son of the late Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, and was born at Laleham, Staines, on Nov. 30th, 1823. He was educated at Winchester, Rugby, and University College, Oxford, where he took his degree (first class in classics) in 1848. After serving for some time in the Colonial Office he emigrated in 1847 to New Zealand, intending to settle there as a farmer. Not finding this employment congenial or profitable, he proceeded to Tasmania, where he received the appointment of Inspector of Schools. While in Tasmania he married Julia, daughter of William Sorell, Registrar of Deeds, and granddaughter of Colonel Sorell, sometime Governor of the island. In 1855 Mr. Arnold, carried away even in the Antipodes by the "Oxford Movement," followed its leader into the Church of Rome. He relinquished his post and returned to England, when he received the appointment of Professor of English Literature in the now defunct Catholic University of Dublin, where he remained for six years, subsequently following the late Cardinal Newman to Edgbaston. He is author of numerous works, mostly on English literature.