Born on 10 September 1869, he was educated at Cheltenham College and Durham University. He graduated MB BS in 1891 and afterwards held a series of resident appointments in Newcastle. He was a demonstrator of anatomy and lecturer in surgical anatomy in the old University of Durham Medical College. In

He was born on 10 September 1874, son of John Barton Arundel Acland, Member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand and a barrister, and Emily Weddell Harper his wife, who was a daughter of the first Bishop of Christchurch, Primate of New Zealand. J B A Acland was the sixth son of Sir Thomas Dyke