Frederick Stanley Arnot (12 September 1858 – 14 May 1914) was a British missionary who did much to establish Christian missions in what are now Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In August 1881, he left for the interior, traveling slowly through the Transvaal to Shoshong in Botswana where he was welcomed by King Kama, who had been converted to Christianity.

[4] After a three-month stay Arnot continued northward across the Kalahari Desert to the Barotse kingdom, in what is now western Zambia.

[1] Arnot was present when the Lozi King Lewanika received a proposal from the Ndebele for an alliance to resist the white men.

Arnot may have helped Lewanika to see the advantages of a British protectorate in terms of the greater wealth and security it would provide.

[6] He was assisted in reaching the Bié Plateau in Angola by the Portuguese trader and army officer António da Silva Porto.

[10] Arnot recovered his health while staying at Bailundu, inland from the coast in Ovimbundu territory, as the guest of some missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Messengers arrived there from the chief Msidi (Msiri), who ruled a large area in what is now Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its capital at Bunkeya.

On 3 June 1885 Arnot set out with a caravan of forty bearers and supplies for two years, reaching Bunkeya on 14 February 1886.

He received a warm welcome, however, although Msiri discouraged his missionary work for fear it would make his subjects disloyal.

[11] Msiri's father had been in the business of buying copper ore in Katanga and transporting it to the east coast of Africa for resale.

The celebrated Katanga copper mines are in his dominions..."[13] Msiri's rule was harsh but Arnot managed to establish a relationship of mutual respect.

[3] Arnot was allowed to build a mission with a church, school, clinic and orphanage and began to teach the children to read and write.

[1] Arnot continued to organise missionaries, both male and female, over the next decade, establishing a string of missions from the Atlantic coast in Angola to Garenganze.

Maintaining these posts involved delicate arrangements with the Belgian and Portuguese colonial authorities and with the local African traders and chiefs.

[1][b] In 1892 Arnot went back to England, living for the next two years in the port of Liverpool where he oversaw the shipment of goods to the missions in Africa.