Researching Thomas Arnold

Arnold was a friend of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who influenced him to write the famous book The Preaching of Islam, and of Shibli Nomani, with whom he taught at Aligarh. He taught Syed Sulaiman Nadvi and the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. He was the first English editor for the first edition of The Encyclopaedia of Islam.

Described as "one of the most erratic politicians ever produced by East Tennessee," Arnold was remembered by his peers for his impassioned and unpredictable speeches, unwavering dedication to his positions, and ruthless use of wit and sarcasm. His attacks against Sam Houston in Congress provoked an assassination attempt from a Houston supporter in 1832. While Arnold provided vigorous opposition to Democrats such as Andrew Johnson, he frequently clashed with leaders of his own party, such as William "Parson" Brownlow and T.A.R. Nelson.

On the eve of the Civil War, Arnold remained solidly pro-Union. At the East Tennessee Convention, which met following Tennessee's secession from the Union in June 1861, Arnold advocated the separation of East Tennessee from the rest of the state, and called for the use of force if necessary. He remained openly defiant of the Confederacy for the duration of the war.

The son of Thomas and Elizabeth Arnold, Arnold was born at Weald in Essex and joined the Metropolitan Police's B Division (Chelsea) on 19 March 1855 and resigned on 20 September 1855 to fight in the Crimean War. At the end of hostilities he rejoined the Police on 29 September 1856, being attached to K Division (West Ham) with the warrant number 35059. He served most of his career in London's East End. He was promoted to Inspector on 14 March 1866, and was transferred to B Division.

In 1887 Arnold was involved in the Lipski Case, and by 1888 he was Police Superintendent of H Division (Whitechapel) at the time of the Whitechapel murders in that district. After the "double event" of the early morning of 30 September 1888, police searched the areas near Mitre Square and Berner Street in an effort to locate a suspect, witnesses or evidence to the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes. At about 3:00 a.m., Constable Alfred Long discovered a bloodstained piece of cloth near a tenement building on Goulston Street. The cloth was later confirmed as having been cut from Eddowes' apron.

On the wall above where the apron was found was discovered Graffiti written in chalk. P.C. Long reported the message as "The Juwes are the men That Will not be Blamed for nothing." Other police officers recalled the message slightly differently, as "The Juwes are not The men That Will be Blamed for nothing." Police Superintendent Thomas Arnold visited the scene and saw the graffiti. Believing that with daylight the message would be seen and increase the anti-Semitic feelings of the populace, Arnold ordered the graffito to be wiped off the wall. Ever since the murder of Mary Ann Nichols rumours had been current in the East End that the murders were the work of a Jew nicknamed "Leather Apron".

Although the Goulston Street graffito was found in Metropolitan Police territory, the apron was from a victim killed in the City of London, which had its own police force, the City of London Police. Some officers disagreed with Arnold's order, especially those from the City of London Police, who regarded the message as part of a crime scene which should at least be photographed before being erased. However, Arnold's order was upheld by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren, and the graffito was wiped from the wall at about 5:30 a.m.

Later, in his report of 6 November to the Home Office, Arnold claimed, that with the strong feeling against the Jews that already existed, the message might have become the means of causing a riot:

In an interview with the Eastern Post in February 1893, Arnold said that "...not more than four of these murders were committed by the same hand. They were the murders of Annie Chapman in Hanbury Street, Mrs Nichols in Buck's Row, Elizabeth Stride in Berner Street and Mary Jane Kelly in Mitre Square." His confusion between Catherine Eddowes and Kelly means that it is not certain who Arnold is discounting but in reducing the number of Jack the Ripper victims to four he is contradicting Melville Macnaghten. However, it must be remembered that Arnold was serving with Whitechapel's H Division during the Ripper murders, while Macnaghten did not join the Metropolitan Police until June 1889. Historian Andrew Cook wrote in his book Jack the Ripper: Case Closed that at his retirement dinner address in 1893 Arnold said that he never believed that Mary Jane Kelly was a Ripper victim.

On 1 February 1893 Arnold retired from the Police. He died in Leytonstone in January 1907.