Constituency : Tower Hamlets 1857-74
Acton was a barrister's son and himself a solicitor who practised in India and became wealthy. He was first elected in 1857 as the Radical on a joint Whig-Radical ticket although he expressed his high opinion of Palmerston personally.
Acton was a champion of working class causes . In 1862 he joined forces with a Tory MP to introduce a Bill to increase employers' obligations when their workers were injured but they were forced to withdraw it when the Attorney-General voiced his opposition. In 1866 he criticised the queen's retreat into seclusion at a public meeting and had to be rebuked by Bright who was also present.He managed to reduce the period of qualifying residence in the Second Reform Bill debates. In 1866 he was a strong opponent of the Married Women's Property Act believing it would be ineffective and foment marital discord. On the other hand he was one of the first MPs to protest about the Contagious Diseases Act in 1866.
Acton joined Gladstone's government in 1868 initially as Financial Secretary to the Treasury. It was suggested that Gladstone wanted to move an acerbic critic from the backbenches. In 1869 he became First Commissioner of Works. He was a trenchant supporter of political economy and became embroiled in controversy when he proposed transferring the scientific establishment at Kew Gardens to a less expensive site. This was vigorously opposed by Charles Darwin and Henry Lyell among others. He also fell out with Alfred Stevens over the Wellington Monument he was sculpting , treating him as a negligent contractor. He was savaged by John Ruskin in Fors Clavigera. These disputes did little good to the government's reputation and Acton was moved to Judge Advocate General in 1873.
As a personality Acton was truculent and unsociable.He fell out with the Reform League.
Acton lost his seat heavily in 1874. He contested Mile End in 1885 but received a derisory vote.
He died in 1886 aged 70.
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