Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet
Sir John Acton | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Besançon, Doubs, France | June 3, 1736
Died | August 12, 1811 Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily | (aged 75)
Spouse | Mary Ann Acton |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Tuscany; Naples |
Years of service | 1775 |
Rank | Admiral |
Battles/wars | Invasion of Algiers (1775) |
Sir John Francis Edward Acton, 6th Baronet (3 June 1736 – 12 August 1811)[2] was a French-born English gentleman who served as Commander of the naval forces of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and later as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Naples under Ferdinand IV.[3] He served at Naples during the turbulent times when French Revolutionary fervour under Napoleon was sweeping across Europe and threatening to extinguish the monarchy he served.
Origins
John was born on 3 June 1736 at Besançon in France, the son of Edward Acton, an English-born physician who had settled in that town, the great-grandson of Sir Walter Acton, 2nd Baronet (1623–1665) of Aldenham Park, Morville, in Shropshire, England. In 1791, aged 55, John succeeded his second cousin once removed as 6th Baronet.
Career
Service in Tuscany
He served under his uncle in the navy of the
After securing this prize Acton gave chase to the second frigate and ran her ashore near Algiers, but in waiting for a favourable moment to complete his work another Salé frigate and two xebecs bore down on him. After a short chase the frigate was driven ashore by the Austria and destroyed with two broadsides. Acton then chased one xebec off the port of Larache and opened fire, but under cover of the batteries she got safely in. The second frigate was also of 24 guns, the xebecs of 23 and 16 guns each, but the second escaped while the other was engaged with Acton. He afterwards discovered that they formed one squadron, and had left Larache to capture the Austria, but not a single Tuscan seaman was killed or wounded throughout the campaign.[4]
In 1775 he commanded the Tuscan frigates in the Spanish-Tuscan Invasion of Algiers along with Irish general Alejandro O'Reilly.[5] Concerning the calamitous disembarkation in which the Spanish were drawn into a trap by the feigned retreat of the Algerines, the travel writer Henry Swinburne wrote that the Spaniards would have been "broken and slaughtered to a man ... had not Mr. Acton, the Tuscan commander, cut his cables and let his ships drive in to shore just as the enemy was coming on us full gallop. The incessant fire of his great guns, loaded with grape-shot, not only stop't them in their career but obliged them to retire with great loss."[6]
Service in Naples
In 1779 Queen
His policy, devised in concert with Sir William Hamilton, the English ambassador to Naples, aimed at removing Spanish influence from Naples and replacing it with that of Britain and Austria. The policy led to open opposition to France and the French party in Italy.[5]
The Neapolitan fleet, which when Acton entered the service of Naples had been practically non-existent, he had built up by 1798 to 120 ships with 1,200 cannon, while the land forces had increased fourfold from 15 to 60 thousand. Unfortunately in no degree were the interests of Naples promoted by the vainglorious policy thus inaugurated, which speedily resulted in disaster. Although Acton had aimed to extend the commerce of the country by increasing the facilities of internal communication and restoring some of the principal ports, the increased taxation required to support the army and navy more than counter-balanced these efforts and caused acute distress and general discontent. The introduction of foreign officers into the services, which had aroused the resentment of the upper classes, was further augmented when the fleet was placed under the orders of the British Admiral Horatio Nelson.[7]
Although Nelson and the British fleet had extinguished French naval power in the Mediterranean by his victory at the
In 1804 Acton was removed from power, on the demand of France, but nevertheless advised the king, who had agreed to an alliance with Napoleon, to permit British and Russian troops to land at Naples. Acton was granted a pension of 3000 ducats and was created Duke of Modica, which he later renounced.[8] Shortly afterwards the minister was recalled, but when the French entered Naples in 1806, he together with the royal family again took refuge in Sicily.
A letter of 25 July 1809 reported that Acton had "returned a few days since from the baths of Termina, not in the least benefited by their waters. The painful effects of a paralytic stroke, and a severe fall last year, are now aggravated by a nearly total deprivation of sight."[9]
Succession to baronetcy
In 1791, aged 55, he succeeded to the Acton baronetcy and estates on the death of his second cousin once removed, Sir Richard Acton, 5th Baronet of Aldenham Park in Shropshire.[5][7]
Marriage and issue
On 2 February 1800, at the age of 63, he married his 13 year-old niece Mary Ann Acton, the eldest daughter of his younger brother General Joseph Edward Acton (1737-1830). The marriage appears to have been made for dynastic purposes to keep control of the family's wealth
By his wife he had three children:[5]
- Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet (1801–1837), eldest son and heir, whose son was John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli.
- Charles Januarius Edward Cardinal Acton (1803–1847)
- Elizabeth Acton (1806–1850), who married Sir Robert Throckmorton, 8th Baronet, of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, and had issue.
Death, burial & monument
He died at Palermo on 12 August 1811, aged 75, and a "magnificent funeral was prepared for him; but during the procession, so tremendous a shower of rain came on, that the body remained abandoned in the street for a long time."[12]
Acton was buried in the church of Santa Ninfa dei Crociferi,[7] where survives his wall monument,[13] displaying sculpted (all in relief) his bust within a laurel circlet and antique trophy of arms above a pedimented sarcophagus in the form of a double-bodied winged Sphinx, inscribed in Latin as follows:
- Ides of the Sixth Month (i.e of the Roman year commencing in March, thus August) in the year of our Lord 1811, (in the year) of his age 75").
Notes
- ^ In the saloon at Coughton Court, Warwickshire. Throckmorton Collection, The National Trust: NTPL Ref. No.173366
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 0-550-16010-8, p.6
- ^ Henry Edward Napier (1847). "Florentine History, vol 6". p. 170. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Acton, Sir John Francis Edward, Bart.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 160–161. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Travels through Spain, in the years 1775 and 1776, Volume 1, Pages 61–62, By Henry Swinburne, Published 1787
- ^ a b c d e Henderson 1885.
- ^ "L'ascesa di Giovanni Acton al governo dello stato". Archivio Storico per le Province Napoletane. 1980. p. 437. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ "Mediterranean Expedition". The Times. 18 September 1809. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- . Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ Parsons, George Samuel (1843). "Nelsonian Reminiscences". pp. 50–52. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Naples, Sept. 9". The Times. 3 October 1811. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ See File:JActonGravePalermo.JPG
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Henderson, Thomas Finlayson (1885). "Acton, John Francis Edward". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.