Constituency : Rotherham 1885-99
Arthur took the new seat of Rotherham for which he was a somewhat incongruous candidate.
Arthur was the son of the MP for Wellington, the wealthy baronet Thomas Acland. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford and became a barrister. He was a tutor at Oxford for the early part of his career. He became a deacon in 1872 and a priest in 1874 but had a nervous collapse brought about by doubts about the validity of the Anglican faith and gave up holy orders five years later to pursue a political career inspired by a tour of the industrial north in 1875. From 1878 he administered the Oxford Extension Lectures.
In 1886 Arthur presided over the second day of the Co-Operative Congress. His maiden speech extolled the working classes' interest in adult education and called for more information on government to be made available to them through the Blue Books.
Arthur pursued his interest in education in Parliament . He was one of the principal sponsors of the 1889 Welsh Intermediate Act which gave control of schools to county councils in Wales. He was active in the Liberal Publications Department founded in 1887
Arthur was a radical who introduced Lloyd George to the Speaker in 1890.
In 1892 Gladstone appointed Arthur Vice-President of the Council of Education under Lord Kimberley , with a seat in the Cabinet. He served until 1895. He was responsible for the Elementary Education ( Blind and Deaf Children ) Act of 1893 and the Elementary Education ( School Attendance ) Act of the same year which extended the compulsory age to eleven. He also introduced the Evening Continuation School Code which laid the groundwork for adult education and improved the inspection of school buildings service.
Arthur was friendly with Asquith and Grey and helped persuade the latter to accept office in 1905.
Arthur's energy in office took a toll on his health which deteriorated markedly during his last years as an MP. He was obliged to resign his seat in 1899.
Arthur served on a number of royal commissions after that . He wrote a memoir of his father which was published in 1902. He was President of the National Liberal Federation from 1906 to 1907. He refused a peerage in 1908. He worked on a textbook about the political history of England. He chaired Lloyd George's unofficial land enquiry in 1912. He chaired the Forestry sub-committee of the Reconstruction Committee during World War One which led to the establishment of the Forestry Commission in 1919.
Arthur succeeded to his brother's baronetcy in 1919.
He died in 1926 aged 78.
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