William Munnings Arnold

The Honourable William Arnold
Secretary for Public Works
In office 9 March 1860 – 15 October 1863
Preceded by	Geoffrey Eagar
Succeeded by	Arthur Holroyd
Secretary for Public Works
In office 3 February 1865 – 19 October 1865
Preceded by	Arthur Holroyd
Succeeded by	Thomas Smart
Secretary for Lands
In office 20 October 1865 – 31 October 1865
Preceded by	John Robertson
Succeeded by	John Robertson
Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
In office 1 November 1865 – 1 March 1875
Preceded by	John Hay
Succeeded by	George Allen
Personal details
Born	(1819-10-26)26 October 1819 Ellough, Suffolk, England
Died	Paterson, New South Wales

The Hon. William Munning Arnold (10 October 1819 – 1 March 1875) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1856 until his death. He held numerous ministerial positions between 1860 and 1865 including Secretary for Public Works and Secretary for Lands. He was the Speaker between 1865 and 1875.

Early life

Arnold was born in the village of Ellough in Suffolk, England and was the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated at home and then at private schools in Lowestoft and High Wycombe. Arnold migrated to Australia in 1839 and made a substantial fortune from investments in the pastoral industry and gold trading. He invested in a number of large properties on the Paterson River in which he drowned during major flooding in 1875.

State Parliament

Arnold was elected at the 1856 election to the first parliament of New South Wales after the granting of responsible government. With Richard Jones and Samuel Gordon, he was elected to the three member seat of Durham. He retained this seat until 1859 and then represented the seat of Paterson until his death. He was noted for his radically democratic views on electoral reform including universal manhood suffrage and the distribution of electorates based on population.

Government

Arnold was appointed to the position of Secretary of Public Works in the first ministry of John Robertson and the third and fourth ministries of Charles Cowper. He also served briefly as Secretary for Lands in Cowper's fourth government

Speakership

Arnold served as the Assembly's fourth Speaker between 1865 and 1875. He was noted for his objectivity and fairness as speaker and his decisions were rarely questioned by either the government or opposition.

References

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by first election	Member for Durham 1856 – 1859 Served alongside: Jones, Gordon	Succeeded by seat abolished
Preceded by new electorate	Member for Paterson 1859 – 1875	Succeeded by Herbert Brown
Political offices
Preceded by Geoffrey Eagar	Secretary for Public Works 1860 – 1863	Succeeded by Arthur Holroyd
Preceded by Arthur Holroyd	Secretary for Public Works 1865	Succeeded by Thomas Smart
Preceded by John Robertson	Secretary for Lands 1865	Succeeded by John Robertson
Preceded by John Hay	Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1865 – 1875	Succeeded by George Allen