Sarah, Lady Acland ( Cotton; 21 July 1815 – 25 October 1878) was the wife of Sir

Henry Acland Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland, 1st Baronet, (23 August 181516 October 1900) was an English physician and educator. Life Henry Acland was born in Killerton, Exeter, the fourth son of Sir Thomas Acland and Lydia Elizabeth Hoare, and educate ...

, Regius Professor of Medicine at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. She was a socialite and philanthropist. After her death, the Sarah Acland Home was established in her memory.

Life

Sarah Cotton was born in

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

, Essex, England, the eldest daughter of William Cotton FRS (1786–1866), Governor of the Bank of England, and Sarah Lane (1790–1872). She lived with her family in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...

, London before she was married. On 14 July 1846, Sarah Cotton married Sir Henry Acland; they had seven sons and a daughter: * Admiral Sir William Alison Dyke Acland, 2nd Baronet (1847–1924) *

Sarah Angelina Acland Sarah Angelina ("Angie") Acland (26 June 1849 – 2 December 1930) was an English amateur photographer, known for her portraiture and as a pioneer of colour photography. Distributed bThe University of Chicago Pressin the US. She was credited ...

(1849–1930), photographer * Henry Dyke Acland (1850–1936) *

Theodore Dyke Acland Theodore Dyke Acland FRCP FRCS (14 November 1851 – 16 April 1931) was an English medical doctor, surgeon and author and was the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, a leading London medical practitioner and one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to Qu ...

(1851–1931), the father of Theodore Acland (1890–1960) * Herbert Dyke Acland (1855–1877) * Sir Reginald Brodie Dyke Acland (1856–1924) * Francis Edward Dyke Acland (1857–1943) *

Alfred Dyke Acland Colonel Alfred Dyke Acland CBE JP (19 August 1858 – 22 March 1937) was a distinguished British Army officer. The son of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland by his marriage to Sarah Cotton, Acland was educated at Temple Grove School and Charterhouse S ...

(1858–1937) The Aclands lived at 41

Broad Street, Oxford Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, just north of the former city wall. The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University of Oxford. Among ...

. They were at the centre of the social life of

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Sarah Acland died in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

on 25 October 1878. She was buried in

Holywell Cemetery Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell. History In the mid 19th ce ...

by St Cross Church in Oxford.

Legacy

There is a memorial to Sarah Acland in

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dua ...

. The Sarah Acland Memorial and Home for Nurses was originally established in 1882 at 37

Wellington Square, Oxford Wellington Square is a garden square in central Oxford, England, a continuation northwards of St John Street. In the centre of the square is a small park, Wellington Square Gardens, owned by the University of Oxford. A bicycle route pass ...

in Sarah Acland's memory. This moved to 25

Banbury Road Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the ...

, Oxford, in 1897 as the Sarah Acland Home and later became known as the

Acland Hospital The Acland Hospital (also previously known as the Acland Nursing Home, Acland Home and the Sarah Acland Home for Nurses) was a private nursing home and hospital in central North Oxford, England, located in a prominent position at the southern en ...

. The hospital was rebuilt in 1936 by Lord Nuffield. In 2004, the hospital moved to

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley to the south, and Bar ...

, a suburb of east Oxford, as The Manor Hospital, managed by Nuffield Hospitals. The Banbury Road building became part of

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, t ...

. Sarah Acland's only daughter and namesake,

was an early pioneer of

colour photography Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...

. Some of her photographs are in the collection of the

Museum of the History of Science The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from th ...

in Broad Street, opposite the location of the family home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Sarah 1815 births 1900 deaths People from Leytonstone People from Oxford People associated with the University of Oxford Socialites from London English women philanthropists Women of the Victorian era Wives of knights 19th-century English women 19th-century English nobility Burials at Holywell Cemetery 19th-century British philanthropists Nathaniel Cotton family 19th-century women philanthropists