Eleanor Margaret Acland, née Cropper (1878 – 12 December 1933) was a British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician, suffragist, and novelist. Until 1895 she was known as Eleanor Cropper, from 1895 to 1926 she was known as Eleanor Acland, and from 1926 to her death in 1933 she was known as Lady Acland. She served as president of the

Women's Liberal Federation The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation that was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom. History The Women's Liberal Federation (WLF) was formed on the initiative of Sophia Fry, who in 1886 called a meeting at her house of fi ...

Background

Eleanor Margaret Cropper was born the daughter of Charles James Cropper and Hon. Edith Emily Holland in the Lake District. She was educated at

St Leonards School St Leonards School is an independent boarding and day school for pupils aged 4–19 in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Founded in 1877 as St Andrews School for Girls Company, it adopted the St Leonards name upon moving to its current premises, the s ...

. On 31 August 1905 she married

Francis Dyke Acland Sir Francis Dyke Acland, 14th Baronet, (7 March 1874 – 9 June 1939) was a British Liberal politician. He notably served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Sir Edward Grey between 1911 and 1915. Ideologically, he was an ad ...

, the son of a prominent Liberal Party baronet. They had three sons and one daughter. Francis Acland was to sit as a Liberal MP. Her eldest son

Richard Acland Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (26 November 1906 – 24 November 1990) was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party in 1942, having previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He joined the Labour Pa ...

also sat as a Liberal MP, and her son

Geoffrey Acland Arthur Geoffrey Dyke Acland (17 May 1908 – 14 September 1964), known as Geoffrey Acland, was a British people, British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. Born near Hanover Square, London, Hanover Square in London to Liberal Party Me ...

also stood as a Liberal candidate. The other children were Cuthbert Henry Dyke Acland, who was

High Sheriff of Westmorland Westmorland (sometimes spelled Westmoreland) in North West England was abolished in 1974 following Ted Heath's Local Government Act 1972. Westmorland became a part of Cumbria along with Cumberland, parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, including the ...

, and Eleanor Edith Dyke Acland, who died in 1923 aged 10. In 1926, when her husband succeeded to the family baronetcy, she became Lady Acland.

Professional career

Eleanor Acland was an author of novels. She wrote ''In the Straits of Hope'' (1904), a novel about artists in Chelsea, and ''Dark Side Out'' (1921), a multi-generational family saga. She also wrote two memoirs, ''Ellen Acland: The Story of a Joyful Life'' (1925), about her daughter, and ''Goodbye for the Present'', published posthumously in 1935.

Political career

Eleanor Acland was a passionate advocate of Votes for Women and was an active

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. In 1912 she organised local Women's Liberal Associations to pass resolutions in support of the 1912 Conciliation Bill. In 1913 she founded the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. In 1929 Lady Acland was elected President of the Women's Liberal Federation. She served a two-year term of office. In 1931 when

Sir Herbert Samuel Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935. He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to beco ...

led the Liberal Party into the National Government, she supported him. She was one of the eight signatories to the 1931 Liberal Party Election Manifesto. She was Liberal candidate for the

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

division of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

at the 1931 General Election. No Liberal candidate had run at the previous general election in 1929, when the Conservative vote split between two candidates. In 1931 her intervention pushed the Labour candidate down to third place. However, in a UK-wide election in which the Conservatives polled well, she finished behind the Conservative candidate, who also supported the National Government. She did not stand for parliament again.British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Eleanor Mary 1878 births 1933 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at St Leonards School English suffragists

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

Wives of baronets