Note 65 — Chapter VII

Sir John Francis Edward Acton, Bart., of Aldenham, Salop, born 1736 or 1737, after a chequered and romantic career, became the favourite of Queen Caroline of Naples, the prime minister, and commander-in-chief of the naval and military forces of that kingdom. He bore an implacable enmity to the French, which appears to have been cordially reciprocated, for after the complete overthrow of the Austro-Neapolitan army under General Mack, the French insisted upon General Acton’s retirement from public affairs, and at a later period (1803) he was compelled to withdraw into the island of Sicily. He died at Palermo in the year 1811. All the biographical notices of this remarkable man, being evidently derived from one common unauthentic source, are equally full of errors and misstatements. His brother, Joseph Edward, was also in the Neapolitan service, and was appointed governor of Gaeta. It is said that he was originally in the French army, and was present at the battle of Rosbach, but at the outbreak of the Revolution emigrated to Naples. The Acton family were Roman Catholics. The Neapolitan minister left two sons, the second of whom became a cardinal. The widow of the younger brother (Baron Acton) married the present Lord Granville.