Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, PC (13 October 1847 – 9 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 and the Earl of Rosebery between 1892 and 1895.
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Background and education
Acland was born at Holnicote, near Porlock, Somerset. He was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1867.
Early career
After graduation, Acland became a lecturer and tutor at Keble College, Oxford. He became a deacon in the Church of England in 1872 and a priest in 1874. He retired from holy orders 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 of the second day of the Co-operative Congress.