Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)

Born 24 Dec 1822 in Laleham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Frances Lucy (Wightman) Arnold — married Jun 1851 in England

Died 15 Apr 1888 at age 65 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Matt Arnold is Notable.

Matt Arnold was born in Middlesex, England.

Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues^[1].

Matthew Arnold was Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1857 to 1867.^[2]

• s/o Dr. Thomas Arnold & Mary Penrose
• June 1851 m. Frances Lucy Wightman, d/o Sir Wm Wightman^[3] - 6 children
• Newdigate Prize for poetry (for a poem on Cromwell), while at Balliol College
• liked cold weather, kept his rooms cold
• swam the Bay of Spezia (where Shelley drowned)
• tonedeaf; disliked Turner's paintings
• friend of Browning, Thomas Huxley, Edmund Gosse, RL Stevenson
• his pets feature in his poetry... Atossa (Persian cat), Matthias (canary), Geist (brown & black dachshund), Max (dachshund), Kaiser (collie/dachshund)
• 'Philistinism' and 'Sweetness and light' are attributed to him
• died of heart failure while walking in Liverpool, waiting to see his daughter and her husband who were visiting from the USA
• stated that he never wanted his biography written
• buried at All Saints' Church in Laleham

Notable Relations

• his father was a friend of Wordsworth and Southey; and a noted educator and reformer (Thomas Arnold)
• his namesake was his uncle, Rev. Matthew Arnold, who was Prof. at Royal Military College
• John Kneble was his godfather
• Mrs Humphrey Ward, his niece, was a novelist
• his great-nephews were Aldous & Julian Huxley, noted novelists
• died of heart failure while walking in Liverpool. He was waiting for his daughter, Lucy, who was visiting from the USA where she lived with her American husband.
• buried in All Saints Church, Laleham
• he stated that he never wanted his biography written

Bibliography

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia entry for Matthew Arnold
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Oxford Professor of Poetry
3. ↑ Wikipedia: Matthew Arnold, accessed 21 July 2018.

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV9-1H9V : accessed 21 January 2016), Matthew Arnold, 1888; Burial, Laleham, Spelthorne Borough, Surrey, England, All Saints Churchyard; citing record ID 6274704, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• Bryant, Mark. "A True Compendium of Curious Facts, Bizarre Habits and Fascinating Anecdotes about the PRIVATE LIVES of the Famous and Infamous in History." Cassell & Co. UK. 2001.