ARNOLD, Sir Thomas Richard 1947-2023

[Richard R]

He was s of Thomas Charles ARNOLD OBE 1893-1969 and Helen BREEN 1905-94. He m 1984 (div 1993) as her 2^nd h Elizabeth Jane Mary b 1947 d of Capt Sir Henry Nicholas NEVILE 1920-96 head gentry family of Wellingore & Auborn (s of Charles Joseph NEVILE 1883-1930 and Muriel Margaret Minna 1894-1988 d of Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Robert O’CONOR GCB GCMG 1843-1908 scion of the O’CONOR DON Irish gentry family and Minna Margaret 1862-1934 d of James Robert HOPE-SCOTT 1812-73 (gs of 2nd Earl of HOPETOUN 1704-81 2xgt gf of 1st Marquess of LINLITHGOW 1860-1908) and his 2nd w Lady Victoria Alexandrina FITZALAN-HOWARD 1840-70 d of 14th Duke of NORFOLK 1815-60) and Jean Rosita Mary MBE 1923-2022 d of Cyril James Wenceslas TORR RFA 1896-1940 scion of that gentry family f/o Riby & Carlett Park and Maude Mary Winifred 1897-1968 d of Lt-Col Horace WALPOLE c1850-1919 and Pauline Mary LANGDALE 1858-1944 (gt gd of 17^th Baron STOURTON 1752-1816 by his w a dau of 5^th & final Baron LANGDALE OF HOLME d 1778), and had a dau as below.

Obit in the Times of 16 Nov 2023:

Sir Tom Arnold

MP and theatre producer who ran a political circus as Tory vice-chairman and brought Yul Brynner back in a revival of The King and I

He came from a theatrical family, inheriting the rights to several shows from his godfather, Ivor Novello, along with the songwriter’s piano. He also served 23 years as MP for Hazel Grove, a traditionally Liberal seat on the suburban outskirts of Stockport. His father, a renowned impresario ­also called Tom, had staged Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The King and I in 1956 with Yul Brynner….

…Thomas Richard­ ­Arnold was born in London in 1947, the son of Tom Arnold OBE, who not only was Novello’s producer but also put on ice shows, circuses and stagings of Peter Pan, and his wife Helen (née Moore), a soprano turned principal boy. Thomas Jr had an older sister, Louise, and a nanny known as Bunnie, who was later a companion to the artist Dame Laura Knight. At the age of four he inherited from his godfather the copyright to the musical romance The Dancing Years, which had run in London during the war taking £1 million at the box office…

…In 1984 he married Elizabeth-Jane Smithers (née Nevile), a widow, and they had one daughter, Emily, who is a solicitor, and who survives him; he also had two stepchildren, Christian and Lucian. Life was not without turmoil and the marriage was dissolved in 1993…

Sir Tom Arnold, Conservative MP and theatre producer, was born on January 25, 1947. He died after a long illness on November 14, 2023, aged 76

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sir-tom-arnold-rr3vtbjsh

[S R Eglesfield]

Lt-Col Horace WALPOLE (2 VIII 1849 - 4 IV 1919) was the illegitimate son of Horatio William WALPOLE (18 IV 1813 - 7 XII 1894), 4th Earl of Orford (of the third creation), and Susan PELHAM-CLINTON (9 VI 1814 - 28 XI 1889), Duchess of Newcastle (wife of the 5th Duke (her first husband); married 27 XI 1832, divorced 1850), née Lady Susan Harriet Catherine HAMILTON, daughter of the 10th Duke of Hamilton and 7th Duke of Brandon.

[Richard R]

From the Telegraph of 1 Dec 2023: ARNOLD Sir Thomas Richard died in Brighton on November 14th aged 76 after a long illness. Thanksgiving service to be announced at a later date.