Lady Harriet Acland


Lady Harriet Acland was a British noblewoman and diarist. She accompanied her husband to British North America and became celebrated for her personal courage. She is commemorated on one of the bronze reliefs on second floor of the Saratoga Monument in the State of New York.

Early life

She began life as The Honourable Christian Henrietta Caroline "Harriet" Fox-Strangways, daughter of Stephen Fox-Strangways, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Horner. When her father was raised to his earldom, Harriet became "Lady Harriet Fox-Strangways".

Marriage and issue

In 1770, at the age of twenty, she married John Dyke Acland, son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet, and his wife, Elizabeth Dyke. Lady Harriet and her husband had two children:
Lady Harriet travelled with her husband to the Provence of Quebec and the Thirteen Colonies when he commanded the 20th Regiment of Foot. At the time of the Battles of Saratoga, during the American Revolutionary War, Lady Harriet heard that her husband had been wounded and travelled through the rebel lines to find him. Her husband, who had been shot through both legs, improved with her careful nursing. The next year they returned to England, where Colonel Acland died at Pixton Park, Dulverton near Exmoor on 31 October 1778.

Widowhood and death

During the long period of her widowhood, 1778-1815, Lady Harriet remained at Pixton Park, building the lane now known as Lady Harriet Acland's Drive to connect to where her daughter, Elizabeth, the Countess of Carnarvon, lived near Wiveliscombe.
Lady Harriet died, aged 65, at Tetton, near Taunton.

American War of Independence

A 1784 engraving by Robert Pollard depicting Lady Harriet Acland on the Hudson River is inscribed as follows:

Additional sources