Biography

Edward Arber (1836-1912), literary scholar, was born on 4 December 1836 at 29 George Street, Hanover Square, London, the youngest of five children of Thomas Arber, architect, and his wife, Eleanor (née Newell). He was educated first in London, then at the Institution Bellaguet, Paris (1852-3,) and King's College School, Strand, London (1853-4). He worked as a clerk in the Admiralty (1854-78), and entered night school at King's College, London, in 1858 where Henry Morley had a lasting influence on him. He became an associate of the college in 1867. On resigning from the Admiralty in 1878, Arber was appointed lecturer in English literature under Morley at University College, London, and when the Mason Science College (later the University of Birmingham) was founded in 1881 he became professor of English. Edward Arber was knocked down by a taxi on Kensington High Street, London, on 23 November 1912, and died of his injuries on the way to hospital. His burial took place six days later in Putney Vale cemetery.

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