Arrowsmith was the first of an English family of cartographers, who raised the standard of map-making to a new pitch of excellence. He went to London from the delectable Durham village of Winston, when he was about twenty years old and was employed by the engraver, John Carey. In 1790 he achieved fame with his large map of the world on Mercator's projection. Maps of North America (1796) and Scotland (1807) are the most celebrated of his many later productions. His sons Aaron and Samuel carried on the business, and old Aaron's nephew, John Arrowsmith, published his London Atlas, the best set of maps then in existence. In 1863, he received the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, of which he was a co-founder.