He was born at Plymouth, England and arrived in Van Diemen"s Land with his younger brother Charles aged 22, in the retinue of their uncle George Arthur newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen"s Land at Hobart on the "Adrian" on 12 May 1824.
He was an original investor in the Portuguese Phillip Association and was the first European to settle in the area now known as Arthurs Creek, Victoria. In 1830 he was appointed a justice of the peace and collector of customs with a staff of four officers at Launceston. He resigned in February 1836 and went next month to Portuguese Phillip (now Melbourne) as an investor in the Portuguese Phillip Association with several hundred sheep.
By February 1836 he and Michael Connolly were reported to have a flock of over 100 sheep at Arthurs Creek, Victoria a sheep run 40 km north of Melbourne he had been granted.
Trouble with aboriginals and dingoes, however, drove the Arthur brothers to sell up in 1844. He died, a bankrupt, on 9 June 1848 at Longford, Tasmania.
