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Sir Charles Thomas Dyke Acland, 12th Baronet,DL,JP (16 July 1842 – 18 February 1919), ofKillerton in Devon and ofHolnicote in the parish ofSelworthy in Somerset, was a large landowner and aBritish politician andBarrister-at-Law. He was known to family and friends as "Charlie", but demanded to be known in public as "Sir Thomas", not only because that was the traditional name of the Aclands, there having been a "Sir Thomas Acland" at Killerton for 170 years, but also because following the creation of a second and much newerAcland Baronetcy ("of St Mary Magdalen in Oxford") in 1890, for his uncleSir Henry Wentworth Acland, 1st Baronet (the fourth son of the tenth Baronet), he wished people to know "which was the real head and owner of Killerton".[1]
Born inQueen Anne Street inLondon, he was the son ofSir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet and Mary Mordaunt.
Dyke Acland was educated atEton College inBerkshire and atChrist Church, Oxford, where he graduated with aBachelor of Arts in 1866 and aMaster of Arts in 1868.
In 1869 he wascalled to the Bar by theInner Temple. In 1898 he succeeded to his father'sbaronetcy. He served in the1st Devon Yeomanry Cavalry,[2] reaching the rank oflieutenant-colonel. He wasDeputy Warden of the Stannaries andLiberalMember of Parliament (MP) forEast Cornwall from 1882 to 1885 and forLaunceston from 1885 to 1892.[3] In 1886, he wasChurch-estates Commissioner andParliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. Dyke Acland was aDeputy Lieutenant ofSomerset andDevon and aJustice of Peace for Somerset and Devon. In 1903, he becameHigh Sheriff of Devon.
On 1 November 1879 inAll Saints' Chapel inUffculme, he married Gertrude Walrond, a daughter ofSir John Walrond, 1st Baronet, ofBradfield House,Uffculme in Devon, The marriage was childless.
In February 1917 he granted a 500-year lease of almost 8,000 acres of the picturesque and virtually pristineHolnicote Estate onExmoor, "one of the most beautiful pieces of wild country to be found in England" to theNational Trust, in order to preserve it from future development. This more than doubled the extent of the lands controlled by the National Trust, then only recently created. His brother and successor Arthur and nephew Francis, 13th & 14th Baronets respectively, co-operated in the negotiations concerning the gift.[4] The lease was converted into an outright gift 35 years later by his great-nephewSir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (1906-1990), who also donated Killerton.[5]
He died childless and was succeeded by his younger brotherSir Arthur Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet (1847-1926).
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEast Cornwall 1882–1885 With:William Copeland Borlase | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLaunceston 1885–1892 | Succeeded by |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by | Second Church Estates Commissioner 1886 | Succeeded by |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by | President of theChurchmen's Union 1908–1915 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of St Columb John) 1898–1919 | Succeeded by |
