author
John Edward Acland
1848–1932
A Dorset-born writer, soldier, and local historian, he is best remembered for historical and topographical books including Little Gidding and its inmates in the Time of King Charles I. and a guide to England’s church bells. His work has a quiet antiquarian charm and a strong sense of place.
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About the author
Born in 1848 and dying in 1932, John Edward Acland was an English author with close ties to Dorset. Contemporary and archival sources identify him as Captain John Edward Acland, and also connect him with work at the Dorset County Museum later in life.
His surviving reputation rests mainly on nonfiction. He wrote Little Gidding and its inmates in the Time of King Charles I., now preserved through Project Gutenberg, and he was also associated with The Change-Ringers' Guide to the Steeples of England, compiled with R. H. D. Acland-Troyte. These books suggest the range of his interests: English religious history, local heritage, and the traditions of church bell ringing.
Some sources give his family name in forms such as Acland-Troyte, reflecting his place in the wider Acland family. Even where biographical details are sparse, the picture that emerges is of a writer rooted in county history and old English institutions, whose books still appeal to readers drawn to local history and overlooked corners of the past.