Richard Maximilian Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton, (7 August 1870 – 16 June 1924) was a British peer and diplomat, ultimately Britain's first Ambassador to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 1919–20.

Early life

The scion of an ancient and distinguished Shropshire family, Dalberg-Acton was born in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, in the then

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. He was the first and only surviving son of the 1st Baron Acton, a historian and politician, and his German wife, Marie Anna Ludomilla Euphrosina '' Gräfin'' von Arco auf Valley. He completed his education in England at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

Diplomatic career

Dalberg-Acton entered the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in 1894. He began a career in Europe as Third Secretary in the Diplomatic Service at the British Embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1896. He was promoted Second Secretary in 1900 and served in the Berlin embassy until 1902, also the year he succeeded to his father's peerage. The 2nd Lord Acton then served as Second Secretary at successive embassies, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from August 1902; then Berne, Switzerland;

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1906–07, and

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. In 1911 he was promoted First Secretary, in which grade he was ''charge d'affaires'' at

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

in Germany until the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914. He served again in Switzerland as Counsellor of Embassy at Berne in 1915–16, and became Consul-General in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in 1917. In 1919 he became the first British Ambassador in recently independent

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, then retired from the Foreign Office in 1920.

Government posts

Alongside his diplomatic career, Lord Acton, a Liberal peer, was a Lord-in-waiting, from 1905 to 1915, to Kings

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

and

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

under the Liberal administrations of

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Liberal Party (UK)#Liberal le ...

and H. H. Asquith.

Family

The fourth generation of his family to have been born abroad, he was, despite his paternal English roots and service to the British government, not formally a British subject until he was naturalised by Act of Parliament in 1911. In 1919, he assumed by royal licence the additional surname of Lyon. He married Dorothy Lyon, daughter of Thomas Henry Lyon, of Appleton Hall, DL, on 7 June 1904. The couple had nine children: *Marie Immaculée Antoinette Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1905–1994) married John Douglas Woodruff. *Dorothy Elizabeth Anne Pelline Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1906–1998) married Joseph Edward Eyre and had issue. * John Emerich Henry Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 3rd Baron Acton (1907–1989) *Richard William Heribert Peter Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1909–1946) married Jill Ehlert; killed with wife in air crash in Gambia *Helen Mary Grace Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1910–2001) married Prince Guglielmo Rospigliosi and had issue. *Gabrielle Marie Leopoldine Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1912–1930) *Joan Henrica Josepha Mary Clare Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1915–1995) *Margaret Mary Teresa Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1919–1997) *Ædgyth Bertha Milburg Mary Antonia Frances Lyon-Dalberg-Acton (1920–1995) married John Alexander Callinicos and had issue; her son Alex Callinicos is a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

political theorist and activist. Lady Acton died in 1923 and Lord Acton died the following year, leaving nine children between 18 and 3 years of age.

Honours

Acton was appointed to the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

as a Member (fourth class) in 1901. He was promoted to be a Knight Commander of the same order in the 1916 New Year Honours. He was also invested with the 1st class Order of the Crown of Prussia, as a Grand Officer of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, a Grand Cross of the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, and the Serbian Royal Red Cross.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acton, Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Of 1870 births 1924 deaths People from Bavaria Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Finland 2 Clerks Deputy lieutenants of Shropshire Liberal Party (UK) Lords-in-Waiting Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog English justices of the peace British expatriates in the German Empire English people of German descent