Constituency : Stafford 1852-7, Chatham 1865-74, Rochester 1878-85
Sir Arthur took Chatham from the Tories.
Arthur was the son of an admiral and baronet. He was born in Scotland but brought up near Brighton. He was educated at Sandhurst. He had an army career from 1839 to 1846 serving in Australia and India. He then trained as a barrister. Having served in India he saw the need for reform in is governance and joined with John Bright in the India Reform Society in the 1850s. He was elected for Stafford in 1852. Nearly all of his interventions in his first term as an MP concerned India.
In 1868 Gladstone appointed Arthur as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs serving under Lord Clarendon. He resigned in 1871 over the government's Russian policy.
Arthur was defeated in 1874 but returned in a by-election for the neighbouring seat of Rochester in 1878. In 1881 he succeeded his brother to become a baronet. In 1883 he became Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means at a difficult time with the Irish members pursuing their obstructive tactics. He stood down in 1885.
He died in 1912 aged 89.
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