Saturday 16 March 2013

(15) Acland of Killerton and Columbjohn, baronets, part 2


This second part of the Acland story covers the secondary houses of the Acland family and the genealogical details for successive owners of the estate.


Petherton Park, North Petherton, Somerset

In origin a medieval deer park which was probably a detached remnant of the Saxon royal forest of Quantock.  A house called The Lodge, probably in the park, was repaired in 1400, and William Wroth, resident keeper of the park under King Henry VI, was said to have rebuilt the Court House, which may have stood on the edge of the park and was probably the moated lodge recorded by Leland.  The Lodge was said to have been pulled down in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, but part was still standing in 1665, and a house called Broad Lodge, built from the materials of the older house, possibly c.1582-86, was known as Petherton Park by the 17th century, when it was the home of the Wroth family.  Sir Thomas Wroth (d. 1721) rebuilt the house c.1700 as a double-pile house.  
Petherton Park in 2007.  Image Derek Harper.  Licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

The stone west range has 11 bays with mullioned and transomed windows and a central doorway with a shell hood.  The slightly shorter east range is of brick and has a recessed centre of five bays with similar windows and shell-headed doorway.  The interior retains many features of c.1700, including a fine central staircase with arched landing, several rooms with bolection-moulded panelling and moulded plaster cornices, and in the upper part of the north-east corner a large room with three tall sash windows to the north.  Some alterations were made to the interior in the 19th century, when panelling dated 1601 was imported into one of the ground floor rooms.  By 1984 the house had been divided into two dwellings: Park Farm and Manor House Farm.  To the east of the house earthworks mark the layout of a former garden: James Veitch was planting and fencing at Petherton in 1815.

Descent: Crown granted 1547 to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset; forfeited and regranted 1553 to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; exchanged for Syon House (Middx) with Sir Thomas Wroth (d. 1573); to six sons of whom only John Wroth (d. 1633) survived in 1623; to nephew Sir Thomas Wroth (d. 1672); to great-nephew, Sir John Wroth, 2nd bt. (1653-77); to son Sir Thomas Wroth, 3rd bt. (c.1674-1721); to daughters Elizabeth (d. 1737), wife of Thomas Palmer (d. 1734) and Cicely (d. 1761), wife of Sir Hugh Acland, 6th bt (1697-1728) and later of Rev. Thomas Troyte; to Cicely's son, Sir Thomas Acland, 7th bt. (1722-85); to grandson, Sir John Dyke Acland (d. 1785); to uncle, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (d. 1794); to son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), who sold 1834 to William Nation (d. 1861).


Holnicote House, Allerford, Somerset

Holnicote House: the early 19th century cottage ornée.  © National Trust
The original manor house was replaced by a large square house of the early 18th century which burned down in 1799; only a 15th century gateway remains of either of these buildings. The house was rebuilt in the early 19th century as a rather plain thatched cottage orné with verandahs, built for (and perhaps designed by) Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871).  This in turn was destroyed by fire in 1851 and the remains were remodelled and extended to form the present house in 1873.  

Holnicote House today.  Image Derek Callaghan.  Licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

The estate remained the property of the Aclands until 1944, when it was partly sold and partly given to the National Trust, who lease the house as an hotel.

Descent: Thomas Dyke (d. 1730); to daughter, Elizabeth Dyke (d. 1753), later wife of Sir Thomas Acland, 3rd and 7th bt. (1722-85); to younger son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 5th and 9th bt. (1752-94); to son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 6th and 10th bt. (1787-1871); to son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th and 11th bt. (1809-98); to son, Sir Charles Thomas Dyke Acland, 8th and 12th bt. (1842-1919); to brother, Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, 9th and 13th bt. (1847-1926); to son, Sir Francis Dyke Acland, 10th and 14th bt. (1874-1939); to son, Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th and 15th bt. (1906-90), who donated the estates to the National Trust in 1944.


Pixton Park, Somerset


Pixton Park in an old postcard, c.1930s. 
A five bay three storey 18th century house, with angle pilasters at the corners and on either side of the pedimented three bay centre, probably built for John Dyke Acland around the time of his marriage in 1770.  It was originally entered from the east, from a courtyard between two service wings which were demolished c.1870.  The house was altered internally c.1820 and again c.1870, when a billiard room wing was added on the south-west, the entrance was moved to the north side, and a new east service wing was built.  

Pixton Park in 2010. 

There is a castellated folly tower (now Pepperpot Lodge) on a drive laid out by Lady Harriet Acland in the late 18th century.

Descent: Thomas Dyke (d. 1730); to daughter, Elizabeth Dyke (d. 1753), later wife of Sir Thomas Acland, 3rd and 7th bt. (1722-85); to son, John Dyke Acland (1746-78); to widow, Lady Harriet Acland (1750-1815), who gave Pixton as a dowry in 1796 on the marriage of her daughter, Elizabeth Kitty Acland (1772-1813) to Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772-1833); to son, Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon (1800-49); to son, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831-90); to son, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866-1923); sold c.1901 to stepmother, Elizabeth Catherine Herbert (née Howard), Countess of Carnarvon (d. 1929); who gave it to her son, the Hon. Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (1880-1923); to son, Auberon Herbert (1922-74); sold 1982 to Timothy Bell (fl. 2007)

Tetton House, Somerset

Tetton Park: the south front in 2015

A house of about 1796-1800 built for Lady Harriet Acland (1750-1815), and perhaps altered c.1829, was remodelled and enlarged into a quadrangular courtyard house and covered in bright apricot-coloured plaster by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel in 1926 for the Hon. Mervyn Herbert, a son of the 4th Earl of Carnarvon.  The entrance is on the east side, through a pedimented door with side lights; the south side of nine bays has a pedimented centre and a single storey colonnade of fluted Doric columns; while the west front preserves the most original Georgian work, with full height semi-circular bays and thermal windows in the gables of the end bays, although Goodhart-Rendel added a two-storey bow in the centre with carved wooden caryatids above a concave copper roof, with a semi-dome over – a free invention in the Regency manner.  

Tetton House: the south and west fronts in 2015.

The courtyard has austere Palladian detailing, the interior a dramatic stair hall with deeply recessed soffits containing a fine single-flight staircase in the manner of C.R. Cockerell, and the south front two rooms (now thrown into one) with good imported 18th century marble chimneypieces.  The library on the west front has good classical plasterwork details.  The top floor of the house was converted into flats, perhaps in the 1950s, and the present owner apparently lives in one of these; the main house is presumably tenanted.  There is a record of landscaping works in progress at Tetton in 1834.

Descent: Thomas Dyke (d. 1730); to daughter, Elizabeth Dyke (d. 1753), later wife of Sir Thomas Acland, 3rd and 7th bt. (1722-85); to son, John Dyke Acland (1746-78); to widow, Lady Harriet Acland (1750-1815); to son-in-law, Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772-1833); to younger son, Hon. Edward Charles Hugh Herbert (1802-52) (who let to Carew family c.1830-38); to son, Edward Henry Charles Herbert (1837-70) (who appears to have let – perhaps during his minority – to James Robert Macleay); to nephew, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831-90); to younger son, Mervyn Robert Howard Molyneux Herbert (1882-1929); to widow, Mary Elizabeth Herbert (née Willard) (d. 1979); to son, Edward Alan Mervyn Henry Molyneux Herbert (1926-94); to son, Alan Mervyn Edward Hugh Herbert (b. 1971); descent after 1833 is partly speculative.

The Aclands of Columb John and Killerton


Acland, Sir John (c.1552-1620), kt., politician and charitable benefactor; educated at Exeter Coll, Oxford and Lincolns Inn and abroad; JP (Devon); MP for Saltash, 1584 and Devon 1607; knighted 1604.  Younger son of John Acland of Acland Barton in Landkey (Devon) and brother of Sir Arthur Acland, kt. of Acland Barton.  He married 1st, Elizabeth, daughter of George Rolle of Stevenstone and widow of Robert Mallet of Woolleigh; and 2nd, 1605, Margery, daughter of Henry Portman of Orchard Portman (Som), and widow of Sir Gabriel Hawley of Buckland (Som), but died without issue.  
He inherited lands in London from his mother; and lived after his first marriage at Woolleigh until the marriage of his stepdaughter in 1590 to Arthur Acland, son and heir of his brother, Hugh.  He purchased the Columbjohn and Killerton estates and built a new house at Columbjohn to which he moved in 1590.
He died 14 February 1620 and is commemorated by a monument at Broadclyst erected in 1613, during his lifetime.

Acland, Sir John (c.1591-1647), 1st bt., of Columbjohn.  High Sheriff of Devon, 1641; Royalist commander in Civil War; held out at Columbjohn long after all other Royalist strongholds had capitulated; created a baronet, 24 June 1644 but in the circumstances of the Civil War his patent was never sealed.  Son of Sir Arthur Acland, kt. of Acland Barton and his wife Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Robert Mallet of Wooleigh (Devon).  He married Elizabeth (d. by 1651), daughter of Sir Francis Vincent, 1st bt. by his first wife, Sarah, daughter of Sir Amyas Paulet and had issue:
(1) Susanna Acland, married Edward Halsall, and later John Carleton; 
(2) Sir Francis Acland, 2nd bt. (c.1636-49)
(3) Sir John Acland, 3rd bt. (c.1636-55) (q.v.)
(4) Sir Hugh Acland, 1st and 5th bt. (c.1639-1714) (q.v.); 
(5) Eleanor Acland (d. c1647), married Sir John Davie, bt. 
Inherited Acland Barton in Landkey from his father in 1610 and Columb John and Killerton from his great-uncle in 1620; lived at Columbjohn until the Civil War, and thereafter established a new seat at Killerton.
Died 24 August 1647; buried at Stoke d'Abernon (Surrey).

Acland, Sir John (c.1636-55), 3rd bt., of Columbjohn and Killerton. Second son of Sir John Acland (c.1591-1647), 1st bt. and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Vincent, bt.  He married c1654 Margaret, daughter of Dennis Rolle of Stevenstone (Devon) by Margaret, daughter of John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett of Hinton  St. George, and had issue:
(1) Margaret Acland (1654-91), baptised in Exeter Cathedral, 15 June 1654; married, 1675 (licence 10 May and settlement 11 May), John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice and had issue one son and one daughter; died 26 March 1691 and was buried at St Newlyn East (Cornwall) where she is commemorated by a monument;
(2) Sir Arthur Acland (c.1655-72), 4th bt. 
He inherited Killerton House and Columbjohn from his elder brother in 1649.  
He died in 1655.

Acland, Sir Hugh (c.1639-1714), 1st and 5th bt., of Killerton House.  Third son of Sir John Acland (c.1591-1647), 1st bt. and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Vincent, bt.  Educated at Exeter Coll, Oxford (matriculated 1652; BA 1655); JP for Devon, 1670-1714 and DL 1676-88, 1703-?14; MP for Barnstaple 1679 and Tiverton 1685-87; Mayor of Tiverton, 1686-87; obtained a new patent of baronetcy 1678, with precedence of 1644, as no official record was made of the original grant by King Charles I.  His portrait by Sir Peter Lely hangs at Killerton.  He married c.19 March 1674 Anne (c.1653-1728), daughter of Sir Thomas Daniel of Beswick Hall (Yorks) and had issue:
(1) John Acland (d. 1703) (q.v.); 
(2) Hugh Acland;
(3) Rev. Thomas Acland, rector of South Brent (Devon), m. Miss Willcocks; 
(4) Charles Acland; 
(5) Arthur Acland, m. Elizabeth (d. 1754), dau of Thomas Gilbert, and dsp, 31 May 1740; his widow m.2 Charles Browne (d. 1754);
(6) Francis Acland; 
(7) Elizabeth Acland.
He inherited Killerton House from his nephew in 1672.
He was buried at Broadclyst (Devon), 9 March 1714.

Acland, John (c.1674-1703), of Woodleigh, Beerford (Devon). Eldest son of Sir Hugh Acland (c.1639-1714) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Daniel of Beswick Hall (Yorks).  Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1692); MP for Callington (Cornwall), 1702-03.  He married 24 March 1695/6 Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Acland of Fremington (Devon) and had issue:
(1) Sir Hugh Acland (1697-1728), 2nd and 6th bt. (q,v.); 
(2) Richard Acland (c.1698-1735), m. 1731 (Frances) Anne (1701-71), daughter of Peter Burrell of Beckenham (Kent) and had issue; buried at Beckenham (Kent);
(3) Rev. John Acland (1699-1796) MA JP, rector of Broadclyst, m. Ann, daughter of Rawlin Mallock of Cockington and had issue; 
(4) Arthur Acland, dsp; 
(5) Elizabeth Acland, m. 1726, Sir John Davie bt. (1700-37) of Creedy Park, Sandford (Devon); buried 25 March 1738 at Sandford.
He died in the lifetime of his father, and was buried 20 May 1703.

Acland, Sir Hugh (1697-1728), 2nd and 6th bt. of Killerton House.  Eldest son of John Acland (c.1674-1703) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Acland of Fremington (Devon); baptised 26 January 1696/7.  Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1713); MP for Barnstaple 1721-27.  Married c.9 May 1721 Cicely (1699-1761), eldest daughter and eventually sole heir of Sir Thomas Wrothe, 3rd bt. of Petherton Park (who married 2nd, 1729, Rev. Thomas Troyte), and had issue:
(1) Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1722-85), 3rd & 7th bt. (q.v.); 
(2) Arthur Acland (1726-71), married Elizabeth, daughter of William Oxenham of Oxenham and had issue, from whom descend the Palmer-Acland baronets (see next post)
(3) Anne Acland (b. 1725); 
(4) Hugh or Peter Acland (b. 1728, posthumously).
He inherited Killerton (Devon) from his grandfather in 1714; and the Petherton Park estate in Somerset in 1721 in right of his wife.
He died 29 July 1728, aged 31; buried at Broadclyst.

Dyke Acland, Sir Thomas (1722-85), 3rd and 7th bt. of Killerton House.  Eldest son of Sir Hugh Acland (1697-1728), 2nd and 6th bt., and his wife Cicely, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Wrothe of Petherton Park (Somerset).  Educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1740; MA 1743).  High Sheriff of Somerset, 1751; MP for Devon 1746-47 and Somerset 1767-68.  His portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1767 and also by Thomas Hudson.  He married 7 January 1745, Elizabeth (d. 1753), only dau and heiress of Thomas Dyke of Tetton House (Somerset) and changed his name to Dyke Acland at marriage; subsequent generations have mainly used Dyke as a final forename.  He had issue:
(1) John Acland (1746-78) (q.v.); 
(2) Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1752-94), 5th and 9th bt. (q.v.).
He inherited the Killerton (Devon) estate from his father in 1728; and  the Holnicote, Pixton Park and Tetton House estates in Somerset in right of his wife at the time of his marriage.  In the 1770s rebuilt Killerton House (Devon).
He died 24 February 1785, aged 62, and was buried at Broadclyst, 8 March 1785.

Acland, Col. John (1746-78), of Pixton Park.  Born 18 February 1746, the elder son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1722-85) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Thomas Dyke of Tetton House (Somerset).  He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford (matriculated 1765); undertook Grand Tour (Florence, Venice, Paris) with Thomas Townshend jun., later Lord Sydney, 1766-67; Colonel of Devon Militia; MP for Callington 1774-78; held strong anti-independence views on America and bought a commission as a Major of the  20th Foot in order to participate in American War of Independence.  He served under General Burgoyne in his invasion of northern New York in 1777, but on 7 October 1777, he was shot through the legs and taken prisoner at the Battle of Bemis Heights, near Stillwater, New York; his wife, who accompanied him to America, crossed under a flag of truce to the American lines to nurse him and was well-treated by the Americans; they were allowed to return to England 1778.  

Lady Acland crossing the American lines to nurse her husband, 1777.  Contemporary print by Robert Pollard.

As a young man he was the subject of a famous double portrait with Lord Sydney by Sir Joshua Reynolds, called The Archers.  There is also a further portrait of him by Reynolds, c.1770.  He married 3 June 1770 Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline (known as Harriet) Fox-Strangways (1750-1815), third daughter of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester and had issue:
(1) Elizabeth Kitty Acland (1772-1813), m. 1796, Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon and had issue
(2) Sir John Dyke Acland (1778-85), 4th and 8th bt., who died in childhood a few weeks after inheriting the title and estates of his grandfather; 
He lived at Pixton Park (Somerset), which he probably rebuilt around the time of his marriage.  His widow lived at Pixton until 1796, and thereafter at Tetton House, where she died.
In 1778 he fought a duel with a Lieutenant Lloyd over the character of the Americans, which he was moved to defend because of the good treatment he had received as a prisoner.  He was uninjured but died from a fall on his head during the contest, 31 October 1778. 

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke (1752-94), 5th and 9th bt., of Killerton House.  Born 18 April 1752, second son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1722-85) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas Dyke of Tetton House (Somerset).  His portrait was painted c.1760, probably by Richard Phelps.  Educated at Eton and University College, Oxford (matriculated 1770).  He married 4 July 1785 at Barnes (Surrey), his cousin, Henrietta Anne (d. 1841), only daughter of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st bt., of Barn Elms and Luscombe (she married 2nd, 1795, Capt. The Hon. Matthew Fortescue RN) and had issue:
(1) Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), 6th and 10th bt. (q.v.); 
(2) Frances Anne Dyke Acland (b. 1788), born 28 July 1788; m. 1812, Rev. John Faithful Grover Fortescue (d. 1865), rector of Snoreham (Essex); 
(3) Hugh Dyke Acland (1791-1834), m. 1817, Ellen Jane, daughter of Very Rev. Dr. Chappel Woodhouse, Dean of Lichfield, and had issue; 
(4) Capt. Charles Richard Dyke Acland RN (1793-1828), m. 1819 Charlotte Frances (d. 1875), daughter of George Templer of Stover and died without issue; 
(5) Elizabeth Lucy Theresa Dyke Acland (1794-1857), m. 1823 Admiral Henry Jenkinson of Alveston (Glos); died 1 December 1857.
He inherited the Killerton and Holnicote estates following the deaths in quick succession of his father and nephew in 1785. In 1787 he purchased Rackenford Manor (Devon) which he let.
He died 17 May 1794 in Exeter, aged 42; buried 29 May 1794 at Broadclyst.

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke (1787-1871), 6th and 10th bt., of Killerton House.  
Sir Thomas Dyke Acland MP after William Owen
Born 29 March 1787 in London, eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1752-94) and his wife Henrietta Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st bt., of Barn Elms.  Educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1805; BA 1808; MA 1814, Hon. DCL 1831); MP for Devon 1812-18, 1820-31 and for North Devon, 1837-57.  He was a friend of John Scandrett Harford of Blaise Castle (Glos) and shared an interest in the rustic picturesque with him.  He was also a keen yachtsman, and his schooner St. Kilda visited Melbourne (Australia) in 1842, where the suburb of St. Kilda was named after it.  His portrait was painted a number of times; there are several at Killerton and one by J. Ramsay hangs at Ugbrooke Park (Devon), and there is a statue by Edward Bowring Stephens at Exeter, 1861.  He insisted on the education of his sons combining the traditional classical curriculum with an apprenticeship in manual labour from the carpenters on the Killerton estate, and this early training resulted in his second son, Arthur, abandoning a career in medicine for work in the building trades.  Sir Thomas married 7 April 1808 Lydia Elizabeth (d. 1856), only daughter of Henry Hoare of Mitcham Grove, and had issue:
(1) Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1809-98), 7th and 11th bt. (q.v.); 
(2) Arthur Henry Dyke Acland (later Acland-Troyte) (1811-57), m. 1835, Frances, daughter of Robert Williams; became a clerk of works and stone-carver
(3) Lt. Charles Baldwin Dyke Acland, RN (1812-37); baptised 24 November 1812; died at sea off the west coast of Africa, unmarried and without issue, 1837;
(4) Lydia Dorothea Acland (1814-58), baptised 14 May 1814; died unmarried and without issue, 14 March 1858;
(5) Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland KCB FRS (1815-90), 1st bt. of Oxford, born 23 August 1815; educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford (MD); Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and hon. Physician to HRH The Prince of Wales; m. 1846 Sarah (d. 1898), eldest dau of William Cotton DCL, FRS of Walwood (Essex) and had issue 7 sons;
(6) Rev. Peter Leopold Dyke Acland (1819-99), rector of Broadclyst, m. 1st Julia (d. 1851), dau of Rev. Benjamin Barker, rector of Shipdham (Norfolk) and had issue; m. 2nd, 1872, Julie (dsp 1906), dau of Philip Wappner of Dusseldorf (Germany); 
(9) Agnes Lucy Acland (1821-95), baptised 15 October 1821; m. 1848 Arthur Mills MP of Efford Down, Stratton (Cornwall) (d. 1898) and had issue; she died 23 May 1895.
(7) John Barton Arundell Acland MA, (1823-1904), barrister, m. 1860 Emily Weddell (d. 1905), dau of Rt. Rev. Henry John Chitty Harper, Bishop of Christchurch (New Zealand), and had issue; 
(8) Dudley Reginald Dyke Acland (1828-37), baptised 6 February 1828; buried 7 August 1837 at Morden (Surrey).
He inherited Killerton House (Devon), Holnicote (Somerset) and Rackenford Manor (Devon) from his father in 1794.  He extended and altered both houses and landscaped the grounds, as well as building picturesque cottages at Selworthy (Somerset). He sold Rackenford in 1811.
He died 22 July 1871, aged 84.

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke (1809-98), 7th and 11th bt., of Killerton House.  Born 25 May 1809, eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), 6th and 10th bt., and his wife Lydia Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Hoare of Mitcham Grove.  Educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1827; BA 1831; MA 1835, Hon. DCL, 1858); Fellow of All Souls Coll, Oxford 1831-40; MP for West Somerset 1837-47, North Devon 1865-85 and Wellington 1885-86; Hon. Col, 3rd battalion, Devonshire Regt.; Major, 1st Devonshire Yeomanry Cavalry; promoter of education.  His portrait was painted by Cyrus Johnson c.1883.  He married 1st, 14 March 1841 Mary (d. 1851), eldest daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th bt.; and 2nd, 18 June 1856 Mary (d. 1892), daughter of John Erskine and niece of 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, and had issue:
(1.1) Sir Charles Thomas Dyke Acland (1842-1919), 8th and 12th bt. (q.v.); 
(1.2) Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland (1847-1926), 9th and 13th bt. (q.v.).
He inherited Killerton House (Devon) and Holnicote House (Somerset) from his father in 1871, and reconstructed the latter in 1873.
He died 29 May 1898, aged 88.

Acland, Sir Charles Thomas Dyke (1842-1919), 8th and 12th bt., of Killerton House. Born 16 July 1842, elder son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1809-98) and his first wife, Mary, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th bt.  Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (MA) and Inner Temple (called to bar 1867); JP and DL (Somerset and Devon); High Sheriff of Devon 1903; Deputy Warden of Stannaries; MP for East Cornwall 1882-85 and for Launceston 1885-92; Parliamentary Sec., Board of Trade, 1886; 2nd Church Estate Commissioner; Major and Hon. Lt-Col., 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry.  He married 1 November 1879 Gertrude (d. 1920), third dau of Sir John Walrond Walrond, 1st bt. but had no issue.
He inherited Killerton House (Devon) and Holnicote House (Somerset) from his father in 1898, and remodelled the entrance to Killerton, 1898-1900.
He died 18 Feb. 1919 aged 76, when the title and estates passed to his younger brother.

Acland, Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke (1847-1926), 9th and 13th bt., of Killerton House.  Born 13 October 1847, second son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1809-98) and his first wife Mary, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 8th bt.  Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (MA); Hon. Fellow of Balliol Coll; Steward of Christ Church, 1879-85; Senior Bursar, Balliol College, 1884-88; Hon. LLD Leeds, 1904, Bristol, 1912; MP for Rotherham 1885-99; Vice-Pres, Council for Education, 1892-95; Chairman of the Executive Committee of Imperial College, London until 1922.  He married 14 June 1873, Alice Sophia (d. 1935), eldest dau of Rev. Francis Macaulay Cunningham, rector of Brightwell (Oxon), and had issue:
(1) Sir Francis Dyke Acland (1874-1939), 10th and 14th bt. (q.v.); 
(2) Cuthbert Charles Dyke Acland (1875-82), dsp; 
(3) Mabel Alice Dyke Acland (1891-1975), m. 1919 Sir Frederick Carl Bovenschen (1884-1977).
He inherited the Killerton House (Devon) and Holnicote House (Somerset) estates from his elder brother in 1919, but continued to live in London.
He died 9 October 1926, aged 78.

Acland, Sir Francis Dyke (1874-1939), 10th and 14th bt., of Killerton House.  Born 7 March 1874; only surviving son of Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland (1847-1926) and his wife Alice Sophia, daughter of Rev. Francis Macaulay Cunningham.  JP (Yorkshire NR, Devon); DL (Devon); Junior Examiner, Education Dept 1900-03; MP for Richmond (Yorks) 1906-10, Camborne 1910-22, Tiverton 1923-24 and North Cornwall 1930-39; PPS to Sec of State for War 1906-08, Financial Secretary and member Army Council 1908-10, 1911; Under-Sec for Foreign Affairs 1911-15; Financial Secretary to Treasury 1915; Parliamentary Secretary, Board of Agriculture & Fisheries 1915-16; member of Senate of London Univ; Chairman of Bedford College Trustees, UK Dental Board; Forestry Commissioner; privy councillor.  He married 1st, 31 August 1905, Eleanor Margaret (d. 1933), dau of Charles James Cropper; and married 2nd, 10 December 1937, Constance (d. 1940), dau of George Denis Darville Dudley of Oxford; and had issue:
(1.1) Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland (1906-90), 11th and 15th bt. (q.v.); 
(1.2) Arthur Geoffrey Dyke Acland (1908-64), m. 1932 Winifred Julian Dorothy, dau of Lt-Col. Sydney Roden Fothergill and had issue 5 sons and 1 daughter; 
(1.3) Maj. Cuthbert Henry Dyke Acland (1910-79), National Trust land agent in Cumbria; High Sheriff of Westmorland, 1965; died unmarried;
(1.4) Eleanor Edith Dyke Acland (1913-24), dsp.
He inherited the Killerton House (Devon) and Holnicote House (Somerset) estates from his father in 1926, but was resident before 1919.
He died 9 June 1939, aged 65.

Acland, Sir Richard Thomas Dyke (1906-90), 11th and 15th bt., of Killerton House.  Born 26 Nov 1906; eldest son of Sir Francis Dyke Acland (1874-1939)  and his first wife, Eleanor Margaret, daughter of Charles James Cropper.  Educated at Rugby School, Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1927), and the Inner Temple (called to bar 1939); Lt., 96th Field Brigade, Royal Artillery; Principal Lecturer, St. Luke's Coll, Exeter; Liberal (later Commonwealth) MP for Barnstaple, 1935-45 and Labour MP for Gravesend 1947-55; resigned from Parliament over nuclear disarmament, 1955; Asst. Lib. Whip, 1935-37; Leader, Common Wealth Parliamentary Party, 1944-45; 2nd Church Estates Commissioner, 1950-51; teacher at Wandsworth Comprehensive School and later lecturer at St. Luke's College of Education, Exeter.  He married 15 April 1936, Anne Stella ARIBA (d. 1992), younger dau of Robert Greenwood Alford of Chelsea and had issue:
(1) Sir John Dyke Acland (1939-2009), 12th and 16th bt. (q.v.)
(2) Prof. Robert Dyke Acland (1941-2016), a pioneer of microsurgery, he moved to America in 1977 and established a microsurgery teaching and research facility at the University of Louisville, Kentucky (USA); married 1st, 1963 (div., 1983), Sarah, dau of Cdr. James Wood RN of Liss Forest (Hants) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 1983 (div. 1990), Susan Ann, dau of Thomas L. Bishop of Kentucky (USA) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 3rd, 1992, Bette Levy (fl. 2016); died 6 January 2016;
(3) Henry Dyke Acland DPhil (b. 1943), m. 1967 (div. 1977) Norma, dau. of Percy Norman Gatley; 
(4) William Dyke Acland (d. 1945 an infant).
He inherited the Killerton House (Devon) and Holnicote (Somerset) estates from his father in 1939, but transferred them to the National Trust (300 hectares by sale and 2,310 hectares as a gift) as it was contrary to his political principles to hold such private wealth.
He died 24 November 1990, aged 83

Acland, Sir John Dyke (1939-2009), 12th and 16th bt., of Sprydon House, Broadclyst (Devon).  Born 13 May 1939, eldest son of Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland (1906-90), 11th and 15th bt., and his wife Anne Stella, daughter of Robert Greenwood Alford of Chelsea.  Educated at Clifton College, Magdalene College, Cambridge (MA) and the University of Wisconsin (MSc).  He married 9 Sept. 1961 Virginia, younger dau of Roland Forge of The Grange, Barnoldby-le-Beck (Lincs) and had issue:
(1) Sir Dominic Dyke Acland (b. 1962), 13th and 17th bt.; educated at Edinburgh University (MA); Director, Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust, 1999-2013; English Riviera Geopark Organisation Ltd, 2008-date; Managing Director, Embercombe, 2014; environmental consultant; married 1st, 1990 (div. 2011), Sarah Anne, third daughter of Ven. Kenneth Unwin, archdeacon of Pontefract, and had issue two sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 2016, Hazel Lea Snelling;
(2) Dr. Piers Dyke Acland (b. 1965), educated at University College, London and Lincoln's Inn; barrister-at-law (QC 2010), m. 1994, Lucinda, daughter of Dr. John Draper Raiman of Highams Park, and has issue one son and two daughters; now living; 
(3) Holly Dyke Acland (b. 1972); educated at Leeds University (BA); now living.
He was killed in a motor accident, 26 Sept 2009, aged 70.

Sources
Anon, History of Selworthy, 1897; Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Somerset - South and West, 1958, pp. 153, 199; VCH Somerset, vi, pp. 281, 286-87; B. Cherry & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Devon, 2nd edn., 1989, p. 279, 518-19; D. Watkin, The life and work of C.R. Cockerell, 1974, pp. 178-81, 252; A. Acland, A Devon family: the story of the Aclands, 1981; C. Aslet, The last country houses, 1982, p. 329; A. Powers, H.S. Goodhart-Rendel 1887-1959, 1987, p. 54; S. Heriz-Smith, ‘The Veitch nurseries of Killerton and Exeter, c.1780-1863, part 1’, Garden History, (16:1), 1988, pp. 41-57; S. Heriz-Smith, ‘The Veitch nurseries of Killerton and Exeter, c.1780-1863, part 2’, Garden History, (16:2), 1988, pp. 174-88; N. Briggs, John Johnson 1732-1814, 1991, pp. 40-43; B. Hanson, Architects and the 'Building World' from Chambers to Ruskin, 2003, pp. 201-10; Hampshire Archives, catalogue of 75M91; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entries on Sir John Acland, kt. (c.1552-1620), John Dyke Acland (1746-78), Lady Harriet Acland (1750-1815), Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland (1847-1926) and Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland (1906-90).

Where are their papers?
Acland family of Killerton House, baronets: deeds and estate papers (relating to estates in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset), legal and family papers, 1300-1920: Devon Heritage Centre, 1148M, 51/12, 1926B/A and 6148.
Acland family of Oxford, baronets: estate and family papers, 1887-1969: Bodleian Library, Oxford MSS.Acland; Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies D/EX74, AR 522.
Acland, Sir Henry Wentworth (1815-1900), 1st bt.: corresp and papers, c.1850-1900: Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford  and Museum of Natural History.

Revision
This account was first published 16 March 2013, and was updated 13 May 2014, 3-6 November 2015, 3 and 15 February 2016 and 21 March 2023.

7 comments:

  1. Concerning Col John Acland and his reprobate brother, Sir Thomas, the 5th/9th Bt, there is some correspondence in the Bedford RO that gives a slightly different slant on the circumstances of Acland's death. Their father was a close friend of John Parker of Saltram, and their conversations about his two sons were captured in letters of Fritz Robinson, Parker's brother-in-law, which Fritz wrote to his brother Lord Grantham, who was ambassador in Spain.


    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/14/333/123: Fritz Robinson to [his brother] Lord Grantham, Saltram 14 Aug 1778 [from typescript]

    "Last night after Mr Parker was gone, Sr Thomas Ackland & Mr Popham came in to supper. Sr T. is grown a little old, his eldest son is still lame & does not live the life of an invalid, the youngest turns out exceedingly ill indeed... "



    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/15/54/81: Ld Grantham to Fritz Robinson, St Ildefonso 23 Sept [1778]

    "... I always thought Tom Acland would be spoilt..."

    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/14/333/145: Fritz to Ld Grantham, Saltram 17 Nov 1778

    "Mr Parker receiv'd news this morning of the death of Col Ackland. he had been in a bad state [of] health ever since his return from America where he was severely wounded, he might probably have recoverd with common care, but he would not be induced to leave off the greatest excesses in eating & drinking & smoaking, to which at least he has fallen a victim almost unlamented. he has left a son which is fortunate, otherwise the estate must have come to a more worthless object than himself. he had an active enterprising genius, good natural parts, but I fancy few amiable qualitys by his death the peace of the county at the next election is probably secur'd. he was Member for Callington which Borough is in the disposal of a friend of Mr P."



    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/14/333/146: Fritz to Ld Grantham, Saltram 20 Nov 1778

    "Col Ackland fought a duel a few days before his death but we do not yet know whether he was wounded or whether in his bad state of health the agitation of spirits did not hasten his end."



    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/15/54/106: Ld Grantham to Fritz Madrid 12 Dec 1778

    "The papers say Col. Ackland's Death was owing to a fall while he was fighting. Does Sir T. know or think how ill his sons have turned out."



    Bedfordshire and Luton Archives & Record Service, L30/14/333/168: Fritz to Ld Grantham, Stanmer 6 Jan 1779

    "Sr T Acland knows too well the behaviour of his son, who threatened to prosecute him for his fortune but this is not talked of as perhaps he will now be restord to favor..."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Richard,

    Do you know how Sir Thomas, the 5th and 9th bt., earned his reputation as a 'worthless object' who had 'turned out exceeding ill'? It sounds most intriguing!

    Nick Kingsley

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good day! I could have sworn I've been to this website before but after looking at many of the articles I realized it's new to me.
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    My blog estate agents in lichfield

    ReplyDelete
  4. According to Adam Nicholson's 'The Gentry', Sir Richard Acland did not in fact donate his estates to the National Trust, but rather sold them to the NT, which paid for the estates using a legacy left to it by a Mrs. Ronnie Greville.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing this out. I have checked this with the National Trust, and Adam Nicholson is partly right. Sir Richard Acland sold, as trustee of his marriage settlement, a little under 300 hectares (including Holnicote House and several farms in Devon) to the National Trust on 20 June 1944. Sir Richard then gave in his own name 2,310 hectares to the Trust on 29 September 1944. This included the Killerton Estate and further land in Devon and North Somerset. So although there was an element of purchase involved, by far the largest proportion of the estate was a gift. I will amend my account accordingly.

      Delete
  5. Sir Thomas Dyke Acland built St Michael and All Angels Church in Bude N.Cornwall, I help look after the fabric of the church. We are starting to run up some significant bills in conservancy of our beautiful church, I wonder where I could get an address of the / a surviving Acland family member to ask, (beg, if needs be), if they could help by donating to the maintenance of the church. I wonder if you can help in this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe Sir Dominic Acland lives at Sprydoncote House, Budlake, Exeter, Devon, EX5 3JN.

      Delete

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