Place Name
Sir Joseph Arnould (November 12, 1813 – February 16, 1886), the writer and British judge in India who was born in Camberwell. It was during his undergraduate years at Oxford, studying for a Batchelor of Arts, that some of his early poetry was first published and won prizes. Though he never considered himself a serious poet, and five years later, in 1841, was called to the bar by the Middle Temple. He continued to write, producing articles for the Daily News (refusing the job of Editor) and publishing his first book in 1848. In 1859 he received a knighthood and also was appointed to the supreme court of Bombay, India. In 1862, as the Bombay High Court was inaugurated, he became one of its first judges, presiding over such high-profile cases as the Maharaj Libel Case in 1862 and the Aga Khan case in 1866. Upon his retirement, three years later, the University of Bombay created an Arnould scholarship to commemorate his work in promoting the study of Islamic and Hindu law. He is the great uncle of the actor, Laurence Olivier. A friend of the Camberwell-born poet Robert Browning, this is one of a group of roads on the Champion Hill Estate, named in 1952 after friends or acquaintances of Browning. See also Domett Close; Dowson Close; Monclar Road; and Wanley Road.
