 Born in Queen Anne Street in London, he was the son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet and Mary Mordaunt.Dyke Acland was educated at Eton College in Berkshire and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1866 and a Master of Arts in 1868.In 1869 he was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple.