George Arbuthnot (20 November 1802, Norbiton, Surrey - 28 July 1865) was a distinguished[1] member of the permanent British civil service.
He was appointed by Lord Liverpool a junior clerk in the Treasury 18 July 1820 and served with that department until his death, as private secretary to six successive Secretaries of the Treasury.
He was then holding the appointment of auditor of the civil list and was also secretary to the ecclesiastical commissioners.
He was twice offered the appointment of financial member of the council of the governor-general of India, first on the death of Mr James Wilson, PC in 1860 and then on the retirement of Sir Charles Trevelyan in 1865, but was obliged to turn down the offer on health grounds on both occasions.
He wrote a retrospective economic analysis of the Bank Charter Act 1844: He died in 1865.