Lord Acton

He died in 1902 after an illness.

He was born in Italy into an ancient Roman Catholic family. His father was Sir Richard Acton, a descendent of an established English line while his mother, Countess Marie Louise de Dalberg was from a Rhenish family in Germany.

His father died when Acton was just three years old. Three years later his mother married Lord George Leveson (later known as Earl Granville) and the family moved to Britain.

He learnt to speak English, German, Italian and French while still young. He studied under Dr. Wiseman at St. Mary’s College at Oscott until 1848. Then he went to Edinburgh where he received private tutoring.

He aspired to attend Cambridge but could not procure admission because of his being a Catholic. So, he was sent to Munich, Germany to study under the famous theologian Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger who instilled in the young man a deep love for historical research.

In 1855, he was appointed as the Deputy Lieutenant of Salop. His stepfather, the Lord Granville had several prominent political connections and with him Lord Acton traveled to Moscow as British representative at the coronation of Alexander II of Russia.

His stepfather helped him enter politics and he became a member of the House of Commons from the Irish constituency of Carlow in 1859. He was an ardent supporter of the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. His parliamentary career ended after the general election of 1865 in which he lost his seat.

He became the editor of the Roman Catholic monthly paper, ‘The Rambler’ in 1859. He wrote several pieces for the paper on social, political and religious topics and soon gained a reputation as a strong supporter of religious and political freedom. He merged the paper into the ‘Home and Foreign Review’ in 1862.

He came into conflict with the Roman Catholic hierarchy because of his independent thought and liberalism and the paper was censured by Cardinal Wiseman forcing Acton to stop publishing the paper. However, he continued writing and contributed regularly to ‘North British Review’ and ‘The Chronicle’.

He was awarded a peerage by Queen Victoria in 1869. This social elevation was primarily granted because of the influence of the Prime Minister Gladstone; the two men were good friends who held each other in high esteem.

He was a famous Catholic historian regarded as the most learned Englishman of his times. He advocated the use of scientific enquiries in studying history and strongly supported the religious and political freedom of the individual.