Acland, Eleanor, 1878-1933

Eleanor Margaret Acland, née Cropper, was born on February 28, 1878, in Kendal, Cumbria, England.

She was a British Liberal Party politician, suffragist, and novelist. She was educated at St. Leonards School, Scotland. She campaigned vigorously for the parliamentary vote for women and was Vice-President of the South-West Federation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies from 1910 to 1914. In 1912, she organized local Women's Liberal Associations to pass resolutions in support of the 1912 Conciliation Bill. In 1913, she founded the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. In 1926, when her husband succeeded to the family baronetcy, she became Lady Acland. She was President of the Exeter Women’s Welfare Association, and of the Exeter and District Society for Equal Citizenship, and campaigned for a maternity and birth control clinic in Exeter, which was eventually established after her death. From 1929 to 1931, Lady Acland served as President of the Women's National Liberal Federation. She was a Liberal candidate for the Exeter division of Devon at the 1931 General Election. She was also an author of several novels, e.g., “In the Straits of Hope” (1904), “Dark Side Out” (1921) and two memoirs about her daughters, “The Story of a Joyful Life” (1925) and “Goodbye for the Present” (1935).

In 1905, she married Sir Francis Edward Dyke Acland (1874-1939). She died on December 12, 1933, in Exeter, Devon, England.