Born in London, he was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 9th Baronet and his wife, Henrietta Anne Hoare, daughter of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Baronet.

[3] Among his many business interests Acland was the owner of a schooner called Lady of St Kilda, which he bought in 1834.

It was named for the remote Scottish archipelago he visited with his wife in 1812 when he made the earliest extant sketches of the old clachan.

On the maiden voyage of his new yacht in 1834 he again visited the islands, leaving twenty gold sovereigns with the minister to assist in the building of new houses, which was later matched by their improving Landlord, Lt Col MacLeod of Skye.

As a public benefactor, he commissioned Compass Point storm tower, which was built near Bude in 1835.