Richard Pepper Arden, 1st Baron Alvanley PC KC (20 May 1744 – 19 March 1804) was a British barrister and Whig politician, who served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.

[3] Arden was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1769, and received his MA from Trinity the same year, being made a Fellow of the college shortly after.

He took chambers in Lincoln's Inn and became a close friend of William Pitt, with whom he would maintain a political alliance throughout his career.

Quoting from Cokayne, The Complete Peerage: "He was not a man of great oratorical powers, but possessed the qualities of intelligence, readiness and wit...

He was a learned lawyer and a successful politician... the few productions that remain from his pen evince refinement, taste and facility of expression."