(1736 - 1811), e. s. of Edward Acton, phys. of Besançon; served in French navy and in Tuscan service 1755 - 78; c.-in-c. land and sea forces of Naples 1778; suc. cos. 1791 as 6th Bt.; m. 1800 Mary Anne Acton
(c.1782 - 1873); d. Palermo.
1755 - 1811 Florence, Pisa and Leghorn
(1755 - 78), Naples and Palermo
(1778 - 1811)
Although hardly a British traveller, Acton was descended from Shropshire baronets and had considerable influence in Naples. Born a French Catholic (his middle names evoking his family's Jacobite sympathies), he came to Florence in 1755 to join his uncle, John Acton, whom he succeeded as commander of the Tuscan fleet in 1766. In August 1778 the Grand Duke, at the insistence of his sister, Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, promoted Acton to General and sent him to Naples to help reorganise the Neapolitan navy. By 1780 he was also Minister of War, and a favourite with the Queen. He increased the size of the Neapolitan army and navy, founded academies and arsenals, and built military hospitals and roads. By 1790 he was Chief Minister and he worked closely with Sir William Hamilton during the French wars. In 1800 he married, with Papal dispensation, his brother Joseph's young daughter, Mary Anne; she bore him two sons and a daughter (all painted by Robert Fagan in 1809; Sotheby's, 12 Nov. 1980). Acton died in Palermo on 11 August 1811. His (unattributed) portrait as a naval commander c.1780 was engraved by Bartolozzi and his marble bust carved in Rome in 1795 by Antonio d'Este was sold in 1981 (Christie's, 8 Dec.).
His younger brother, Joseph Edward Acton
(1737 - 1808), also served in Naples, becoming a lieutenant general in 1803.
1. See H. Acton, Bourbons of Naples.