Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet

Sir Thomas Acland
Member of Parliament for Wellington
In office
1885–1886
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byCharles Elton
Member of Parliament for Devonshire North
In office
1865–1885
Preceded byJames Wentworth Buller
Charles Trefusis
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Somerset West
In office
1837–1847
Preceded byEdward Ayshford Sanford
Charles Kemeys-Tynte
Succeeded byCharles Moody
Alexander Hood
Personal details
Born
Thomas Dyke Acland

(1809-05-25)25 May 1809
Died29 May 1898(1898-05-29) (aged 89)
Political partyTory, Liberal
Spouses
Mary Mordaunt
(m. 1841; died 1851)
Mary Erskine
(m. 1856; died 1892)
RelationsSir Henry Acland, 1st Baronet (brother)
Parent(s)Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet
Lydia Elizabeth Hoare
EducationHarrow School
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Military service
Branch/serviceRoyal 1st Devon Yeomanry
RankMajor

Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet, FRS (25 May 1809 – 29 May 1898) was a British educational reformer and a politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1837 and 1886 initially as a Tory and later, after an eighteen-year gap, as a Liberal.[1]

Early life

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Thomas Dyke Acland (right) with his mother Lydia Elizabeth Hoare (centre) and Arthur Henry Dyke Acland (left). Mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, 1826.

Acland was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet and his wife Lydia Elizabeth Hoare. Among his siblings was prominent physician, Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, and politician John Acland.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Sir Thomas Acland, 9th Baronet and his wife Henrietta Anne Hoare (daughter of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Baronet). His maternal grandfather was Henry Hoare of Mitcham Grove of Hoare's Bank.

He was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was friends with William Ewart Gladstone and Lord Elgin among others.[3] In 1839, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.[4]

Career

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In 1837, Acland entered Parliament for Somerset West as a Tory.[5]: 453  During the tensions within the Tory party in the 1840s over the Corn Laws, Acland supported Sir Robert Peel's free trade policy. He did not stand for Parliament in the 1847 general election[5] and was to remain out of the House of Commons for nearly twenty years.

Recollection of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet, at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter

Acland showed a strong interest in and commitment to educational reform. He initially promoted the maintenance and defence of church schools and the establishment of diocesan theological colleges. However, he later became a supporter of educational projects of a more Liberal character and played a leading role in the establishment of the Oxford local examinations system in 1858. He was also involved in agricultural issues and was a Trustee of the Royal Agricultural Society. Acland was influential in the recruitment of Augustus Voelcker as consultant agricultural chemist to the Royal Bath and West of England Society around 1849.[6] Acland served as a major in the Royal 1st Devonshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and when the 1st Administrative Battalion, Devonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, was formed at Exeter in August 1860, he became its Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1881, when it became the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, he was made its Honorary Colonel.[7] He was also a J.P. for Devon and Somerset.[3] He contested Birmingham as a moderate Liberal in 1859, but was defeated by John Bright.[5]: 47 

In 1865, Acland returned to the House of Commons as a Liberal when he was elected as one of two representatives for Devonshire North.[5]: 376  Between 1869 and 1874, he served as a Church Estates Commissioner. He never held ministerial office, but was sworn of the Privy Council in 1883. The Devonshire North constituency was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 and Acland was instead returned to Parliament for Wellington.[8]: 382  He voted for the First Home Rule Bill in June 1885 and this led to him being defeated at the 1886 general election.[citation needed]

Apart from his public career Acland was also a patron of art. He was a friend of John Ruskin and an early admirer of John Everett Millais.[2]

Personal life

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Acland married firstly Mary Mordaunt, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th Baronet, in 1841. Before her death in 1851, they had three sons and two daughters, including:

He married secondly Mary Erskine, only surviving child of John Erskine, in 1856. This marriage was childless. Lady Acland died in May 1892.

Acland survived her by six years and died in May 1898, aged 89. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Thomas, who was also a politician. Acland's second son Arthur, who succeeded to the baronetcy in 1919, also had a successful political career.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 6.
  2. ^ a b c d Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke (1902). Memoir & Letters of the Right Honorable Sir Thomas Dyke Acland. Chiswick Press.
  3. ^ a b Debretts Guide to the House of Commons, 1886. Archive.org.
  4. ^ List of Fellows of the Royal Society, A–J, Royal Society.
  5. ^ a b c d Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  6. ^ Hudson, Kenneth. "The Bath & West: A short History". The Royal Bath & West of England Society. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  7. ^ Army List.
  8. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  9. ^ "Gertrude (née Walrond), Lady Acland". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  10. ^ Ranieval, The Marquis of Ruvigny and (2013). The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Mortimer-Percy Volume. Heritage Books. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-7884-1872-3.

References

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[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Somerset West
18371847
With: Edward Ayshford Sanford 1837–1841
Francis Dickinson 1841–1847
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Devonshire North
18651885
With: Charles Trefusis 1865–1866
Sir Stafford Northcote 1866–1885
John Moore-Stevens 1885
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Wellington
18851886
Succeeded by
Church of England titles
Preceded by Second Church Estates Commissioner
1869–1874
Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by Baronet
(of St Columb John)
1871–1898
Succeeded by