Francis Dyke Acland

The Right Honourable
Sir Francis Dyke Acland
Bt PC DL JP
Under-Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs
In office
23 October 1911  4 February 1915
Monarch George V
Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Thomas McKinnon Wood
Succeeded by Neil James Archibald Primrose
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
3 February 1915  25 May 1915
Monarch George V
Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu
Succeeded by Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu
Personal details
Born 7 March 1874 (1874-03-07)
Died 9 June 1939 (1939-06-10) (aged 65)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) 1 Eleanor Cropper
(d. 1933)
(2) Constance Dudley
(d. 1940)
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford

Sir Francis Dyke Acland, 14th Baronet PC, DL, JP (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 adherent of the "New Liberalism" within the Liberal Party.[1]

Background and education

Acland was the son of Sir Arthur Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, and Alice Sophia Cunningham, daughter of Reverend Francis Macaulay Cunningham.[2] He was educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as a junior examiner in the education department in South Kensington from 1900 to 1903, and as assistant director for secondary education in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1903.[3]

Political career

Acland was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond, Yorkshire, in 1906, a seat he held until 1910,[2][4] and later represented Camborne from 1910 to 1922,[2][5] Tiverton from 1923 to 1924[2][6] and North Cornwall from 1932 to 1939.[2][7] He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Richard Haldane, the Secretary of State for War, from 1906 to 1908. He held government office in the Liberal Ministry of H. H. Asquith firstly as Financial Secretary to the War Office from 1908 to 1910. In 1911 he was promoted to Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to work closely under Sir Edward Grey. He remained in this position throughout the buildup of tensions in Europe which led to the outbreak of war. In February 1915 he was moved to the post of Financial Secretary to the Treasury before being moved again in June 1915 to Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. When Asquith formed his Coalition Government in 1916 Acland was left out of office to accommodate Unionist nominees.[2] In 1915 he was sworn of the Privy Council.[8]

In 1917 he was appointed Chairman of the Departmental Committee "to inquire into the extent and gravity of the evils of dental practice by persons not qualified under the Dentists Act [1878]." Based on the recommendations of this committee a bill was introduced into parliament which eventually became the Dentists Act 1921 which established the Dental Board of the United Kingdom. Acland was appointed its first chairman – a position he held until his death.[9]

Acland also was influential in setting up the Forestry Commission and served as a commissioner until his death,[10] a Deputy Lieutenant of Devon and a Justice of the Peace for Devon and the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1926 he succeeded his father as fourteenth Baronet.[2]

Family

Acland married firstly Eleanor Margaret Cropper, daughter of Charles James Cropper, in 1895.[3] They had three sons and one daughter. After Eleanor's death in December 1933 he married secondly Constance, daughter of George Dudley, in 1937. Acland died in June 1939, aged 65, and was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage, Richard. Lady Dyke Acland died in October 1940.[2] His second son, Geoffrey Acland, became a leading figure in the Liberal Party.[11] His great-grandson, Chris Acland became the drummer for shoegaze band Lush.

Audio Recordings

References

  1. Tanner, Duncan (13 February 2003). "Political Change and the Labour Party 1900–1918". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Person Page – 3119". The Peerage. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 Who's Who in Devonshire. Hereford: Wilson & Phillips. 1934. p. 6.
  4. "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with "R"". Leigh Rayment's peerage page. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  5. "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with "C"". Leigh Rayment's peerage page. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  6. "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with "T"". Leigh Rayment's peerage page. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  7. "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with "C"". Leigh Rayment's peerage page. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  8. "No. 29197". The London Gazette. 18 June 1915. p. 5863.
  9. "British Dental Journal 1939; 67 (1): 38–9. Obituary. Sir Francis Dyke Acland". Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  10. "Society's and other news". Forestry. 13 (2): 156–158. 1939. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  11. The Times House of Commons (1959), p.171
  12. Brian Rust: "Discography of historical records on cylinders and 78s", Greenwood Press, London 1979
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Hutton
Member of Parliament for Richmond
1906January 1910
Succeeded by
Hon. William Orde-Powlett
Preceded by
Albert Dunn
Member of Parliament for Camborne
December 19101922
Succeeded by
Algernon Moreing
Preceded by
Herbert Sparkes
Member of Parliament for Tiverton
19231924
Succeeded by
Gilbert Acland-Troyte
Preceded by
Sir Donald Maclean
Member of Parliament for North Cornwall
1932–1939
Succeeded by
Tom Horabin
Political offices
Preceded by
Thomas Buchanan
Financial Secretary to the War Office
1908–1910
Succeeded by
Charles Mallet
Preceded by
Charles Mallet
Financial Secretary to the War Office
1911
Succeeded by
Harold Tennant
Preceded by
Thomas McKinnon Wood
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1911–1915
Succeeded by
Hon. Neil Primrose
Preceded by
Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1915
Succeeded by
Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu
Preceded by
Sir Harry Verney, Bt
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board
of Agriculture and Fisheries

1915–1916
Succeeded by
Sir Richard Winfrey
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
Arthur Dyke Acland
Baronet
(of Columb John)
1926–1939
Succeeded by
Richard Dyke Acland
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