Alexander John Arbuthnot

Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot (11 October 1822 – 10 June 1907) was a British official and writer.

Early life He was born at Farmhill, County Mayo, the third son of Alexander Arbuthnot and his second wife Margaret Phoebe Bingham, daughter of George Bingham. he was the chief secretary to the Madras Government (1862–67); he was a member of the Legislative Council (1867–72); he was a member of the Madras Executive Council; he served on the Viceroy's Executive Council (1875–80); he was acting Governor of Madras, India, for about three months, from 19 February 1872 to 15 May 1872. He later served as a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India from 1888 to 1893.

Arbuthnot was honoured by the Crown with the titles of Knight Commander of The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (1873) and Companion of The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).

Later life In 1880 Arbuthnot returned to England, his term on the Executive Council having come to an end. He settled at Newtown House, near Newbury. He lived there from 1881. The property, owned to 1879 by Edmund Arbuthnot, then came to him through a family connection, on the death in 1889 of William Chatteris of Sandleford Priory, whose first wife Anne was Arbuthnot's sister.

Arbuthnot contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography from its inception in 1885. His second wife, married in 1899, was Constance Angelena Milman (died 1936), daughter of Sir William Milman, 3rd Baronet. Papers Relating to Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency (1855) Memories of Rugby & India (1910), with Constance Arbuthnot