ACTON, CARLO. — Cardinal, b. in Naples on 6 March 1803, d. there on 23 June 1847. Son of Giovanni Acton, minister to Ferdinand IV of Naples, he was educated in England, whither he moved in 1811 after his father’s death, attending Protestant schools and tutors until 1823, when he came to Rome and entered the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, from which he emerged as a prelate. His rare abilities attracted the attention of Leo XII, who sent him to Paris as part of the Apostolic Nunciature then under the future Cardinal Secretary of State Lambruschini. Pius VIII recalled A. to Italy, appointing him vice-legate of Bologna, but shortly thereafter he left that post to go to England to attend the wedding of his only sister.
Cardinal of the Order of Priests reserved in pectore by Gregory XVI in the Consistory of 18 Feb. 1839, he was published in that of 24 Jan. 1842 and assigned the title of S. Maria della Pace. During the visit of the Emperor of Russia Nicholas I to the Pope in Dec. 1845, Card. A. was present at the audiences granted by Gregory XVI, extending relations that are still preserved in the Vatican Archives.