Arnold Harris Matthew (1852-1919) was the first Old Catholic bishop of Britain. He was a resigned Roman Catholic priest who became the leading prelate of the Old Catholic Church in Great Britain. Matthew was appointed in 1908 after the Utrecht Union of Churches approbated the establishment of a mission in Great Britain, and consecrated by Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht on April 28th, 1908. Assiting Gul was Bishop J. J. Van Thiel of Haarlem, Bishop N. B. P. Spit of Deventer and Bishop J. Demmel of Bonn, Germany. Matthew later consecrated Prince Rudolph Edward de Landes Berghes, an Austrian nobleman, in 1913 for work in Scotland.
According to the Reformed Catholic Church , Arnold H. Matthew is the 255th bishop in line of succession from Peter.
See also: Matthew Arnold, a poet.
