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 from 1903 to 1905.

Background and education

Arnold-Forster 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 was educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford, from which he graduated with 1st Class Honours. He was called to the bar in 1879.

Political career

Arnold-Forster 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 sat as Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for West Belfast from 1892 to 1906 and Unionist member for Croydon from 1906 until his death and served as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty under Lord Salisbury and Arthur Balfour from 1900 to 1903 and under Balfour as Secretary of State for War (with a seat in the cabinet) from 1903 to 1905, during which time he reorganized the War Office (see Esher Report). In 1903 he was sworn of the Privy Council.

Family

Arnold-Forster 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 (8 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. After Cox's death, he married Ruth Mallory, widow of George Mallory 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; married Marcia Buddicom in 1922 and Frances Brown in 1948.
Arnold-Forster died in March 1909, aged 53.