Born at South Norwood, 25 March 1860, seventh child and fifth son of the Rev Charles Maddock Arnold, minor canon of Westminster and vicar of St Mark's, South Norwood. His mother was Jane, daughter of John Haywood, MD, of Chippenham, Wilts. Like two of his brothers he went to Westminster School, which he entered on 22 September 1870 and left in August 1872. He then went to Whitgift School, Croydon, but returned to Westminster at Easter 1873 and left in December 1875. From 1876 to 1878 he was in the training ship *Worcester* at Greenhithe and made a voyage to China in the *Serapis* in 1878-79. Entering St George's Hospital in 1879 with the William Brown exhibition of £100 for two years, he won the first year's proficiency prize and the Johnson prize in anatomy; acted as demonstrator of anatomy; obtained the third year's prize and the Treasurer's prize. He also acted as house surgeon during the year 1883-84, and was prosector at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He then took a postgraduate course at Berlin and Vienna, and on his return to England began to practise at Swindon and was appointed the first surgeon to the Victoria Hospital, Swindon. He remained there from 1888 to 1890 and then moved to Forest Hill, where he remained until 1915, and was attached to the South Eastern Hospital for Children at Sydenham. By this time he was devoting himself to ophthalmic work and in 1904 received the first appointment as refractionist at the Royal Eye Hospital and at three of the London County Council's children's clinics. On 7 July 1916 he was gazetted temporary honorary captain, RAMC and was appointed ophthalmic specialist, serving at Dartford, Woolwich, and Aldershot until 1920. During the year 1918 he lectured on venereal diseases for the National Society and at the end of the war he was appointed ophthalmic surgeon to the Ministry of Pensions. From 1920 to 1933 he was out-patient officer and refractionist at Moorfields, the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, the Royal Eye Hospital, Southwark, Queen Mary's Hospital, and the Miller Hospital; Greenwich. He was also ophthalmic surgeon for approved societies' ophthalmic benefit, West Ham school clinic, and ophthalmic surgeon to the Welwyn Garden City school clinic and to the Welwyn Garden City Hospital. He was one of the earliest ophthalmic surgeons to specialize as a refractionist. He married on 28 August 1888, Annette Frederikke Wedel, only daughter of Baron Christian August Wedel-Jarlsberg of Trondhjem, Norway. She survived him with five daughters; their only son was killed in a flying accident in 1917. He died at Forest Hill on 10 February 1938.