Lady Harriet Acland

Who was Lady Harriet Acland?

Lady Harriet Acland was a British noblewoman, nurse and diarist.

She was born Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Fox-Strangways, the daughter of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester, and married Major John Dyke Acland in 1770. She travelled with her husband to Canada and America when he commanded the 20th Regiment of Foot.

She and her husband had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon. They also had a son, Sir John Dyke Acland, 8th Baronet.

At the Battles of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War, Lady Harriet heard that her husband was wounded. She traveled through American lines to find him. Her husband, who had been shot through both legs, improved under her careful nursing. The next year they returned to England, where Major Acland died at Pixton Park on 31 October 1778. She died around the age of 66 at Tetton, near Taunton.