Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet

Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet (25 May 1809–29 May 1898), was a British politician and educational reformer.

Acland was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet, and his wife Lydia Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Hoare, a partner in the banking firm of C. Hoare & Co. Sir Henry Wentworth Acland was his younger brother. He was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was friends with William Gladstone and Lord Elgin among others. In 1837 he entered Parliament for Somerset West as a Tory. 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 and was to remain out of the House of Commons for nearly twenty years. He contested Birmingham as a moderate Liberal in 1859, but was defeated by John Bright. However, in 1865 he returned to the House of Commons as a Liberal when he was elected as one of two representatives for Devonshire North. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1839. [ [http://royalsociety.org/downloaddoc.asp?id=4274 List of Fellows of the Royal Society, A - J] ]

Acland is best remembered for his 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 as well as serving as a Church Estates Commissioner between 1869 and 1874. 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. He voted for the First Home Rule Bill in June 1885 and this led to him being defeated at the 1886 general election. 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.

Acland married firstly Mary, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th Baronet, in 1841. They had three sons and two daughters. After her death in 1851 he married secondly Mary, 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 in the baronetcy in 1919, also had a successful political career.

References

*Stephen, Sir Leslie; Lee, Sir Sidney (editors). "The Dictionary of National Biography. From the Earliest Times to 1900. Volume XXII. Supplement." Oxford University Press.
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/ www.thepeerage.com]

External links

*NRA|P93