John Acland

Who was John Acland?

The Hon. John Barton Arundel Acland, often referred to as JBA Acland or J.B.A. Acland, was born in Devon, England as the youngest child of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet. He followed his father’s path of education and became a barrister in London. With his colleague and friend Charles George Tripp, he formed the plan to emigrate to Canterbury, New Zealand, to take up sheep farming. They were the first to take up land in the Canterbury high country for this purpose. When they divided their land into separate holdings, Acland kept the 100,000 acres that made up the Mount Peel station.

Acland was a committed Anglican and married one of the daughters of Bishop Harper. He gave the land for a church, which they called the Church of the Holy Innocents with reference to four children buried there, including two of the Aclands. They had a homestead built for themselves, which was probably the first large building in South Canterbury constructed from permanent materials. Both the church and the homestead are registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Acland took on many public roles, including serving on the Legislative Council for a third of a century.