Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, PC (13 October 18479 October 1926) was a British Liberal politician and political author. He is best remembered for his involvement in education, serving as Vice-President of the Council of Education under

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

and the

Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. Its name comes from Roseberry Topping, a hill near Archibald's w ...

between 1892 and 1895.

Background and education

Acland was born at Holnicote, near

Porlock Porlock is a coastal village in Somerset, England, west of Minehead. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,440. In 2017, Porlock had the highest percentage of elderly population in England, with over 40% being of pensionable ...

, Somerset, the second son of

Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (25 May 1809 – 29 May 1898) was a British educational reformer and a politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons between 1837 and 18 ...

, and Mary, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th Baronet. Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 12th Baronet, was his elder brother.thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, 9th/13th Bt.
/ref> He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, in 1867.

Early career

After graduation, Acland became a lecturer and tutor at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

, Oxford. He became a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in 1872 and a priest in 1874. He retired from

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

in 1879 to pursue a political career. He served in various posts at colleges at Oxford from 1877 to 1885, most notably his administration, from 1878 onwards, of the Oxford Extension Lectures, which both furthered his grounding in the education field and brought him into contact with the industrial classes in the North of England, who would become his political base. In 1886, he served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the second day of the

Co-operative Congress The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the " Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...

. In 1879, Acland sat on the committee to create an Oxford

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...

"in which no distinction will be made between students on the ground of their belonging to different religious denominations." This resulted in the founding of

Somerville Hall Somerville College is a constituent college A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the Univer ...

(later Somerville College).

Parliamentary career

Though a wealthy aristocrat, Acland became the Liberal candidate for the industrial constituency of Rotherham. The incongruity was increased by the fact that the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

town was several hundred miles from Acland's home in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. Nonetheless, he was easily elected in 1885 and remained Member of Parliament for Rotherham until the end of his political career in 1899.

Chambers Biographical Dictionary ''Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' provides concise descriptions of over 18,000 notable figures from Britain and the rest of the world. It was first published in 1897. The publishers, Chambers Harrap, who were formerly based in Edinburgh, cla ...

, , page 6 Acland became one of the principal sponsors of the 1889 Welsh Intermediate Education Act, making the

County Councils A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county council (New South Wales), co ...

in Wales responsible for education – a reform not introduced in England until 1902. In 1892,

appointed Acland Vice-President of the Council of Education, with a seat in the cabinet. His cabinet status gave him effective control of the educational authorities (The Council President,

Lord Kimberley Earl of Kimberley, of Kimberley in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the prominent Liberal politician John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse. During his long political career, he no ...

, was a figurehead). He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. Acland's principal legislative achievements were both enacted in 1893: The Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act, and the Elementary Education (School Attendance) Act (which made education compulsory up to the age of eleven). The same year, he promulgated the Evening Continuation School Code, which laid the foundation for adult education, and issued Circular 321, which required inspectors to submit a report to the Education Department about the condition of buildings and apparatus in each public elementary school. Acland's physical and mental health were not equal to the tasks he undertook, and his ill health continued after he left office after the Liberals' defeat in the

General Election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of 1895. Although re-elected, he effectively resigned from Parliament in 1899 by requesting appointment to the position of

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidde ...

, a nominal office of profit under the Crown.

Later life and other honours

After his retirement, Acland served on several government commissions. In 1908, he declined a peerage. He worked on revised editions of his ''Handbook in Outline of the Political History of England'' (co-authored with Cyril Ransome, father of children's author

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

), a longtime standard in the field.

Family

Acland married Alice Sophia Cunningham, daughter of Reverend Francis Macaulay Cunningham, in 1873. In 1919, at the age of 71, he succeeded his brother as ninth Baronet of Columb-John of the 1644 creation and thirteenth Baronet of Columb-John of the 1678 creation. He died in October 1926, aged 78, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

. Lady Acland died in July 1935.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Arthur, 13th Baronet 1847 births 1926 deaths 209 Arthur Herbert Dyke Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Keble College, Oxford Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Rugby School People from West Somerset (district) Presidents of Co-operative Congress Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK) UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People associated with Somerville College, Oxford Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford