Arnold, Thomas (1795-1842), was an influential British educational and religious reformer and a writer. He was well known as a headmaster of Rugby School. He held this position from 1828 until 1842 and raised Rugby to a position of prominence among independent schools.
Arnold was born on June 13, 1795, at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight. He was educated at Winchester College and Oxford University. His best-known writings were History of Rome (3 volumes, 1838-1842) and History of the Later Roman Commonwealth (1845). He also wrote about church reform. Arnold was appointed professor of modern history at Oxford University in 1841. He died on June 12, 1842, in the village of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. His son was the poet and literary critic Matthew Arnold.
