| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Bridgnorth | 1660 |
J.p. Salop July 1660 – d., commr. for assessment Sept. 1660 – d., lt. vol. horse Oct. 1660, commr. for loyal and indigent officers 1662, dep. lt. 1662 – d., commr. for corporations 1662–3.2Bodl. Ch. Salop 146; SP29/41/85.
Acton’s ancestors had held Aldenham since the 14th century, first representing the county in 1378. Although Acton’s father married the sister of the parliamentary general Thomas Mitton, he was an active Royalist. As MP for Bridgnorth, three miles from Aldenham, in the Short and Long Parliaments until disabled in 1644, he sat at Oxford, though he ‘did not vote anything’, and was rewarded for his loyalty with a baronetcy. The committee for compounding sentenced him to a fine of £5,242 at two-thirds, but reduced it to £2,000.3Keeler, Long Parl. 81-82; Thurloe, vii. 895.
Disregarding the Long Parliament ordinance, Acton was the ‘high Cavalier’ choice for the family borough at the general election of 1660. In the Convention he appears to have been marked as a friend by Lord Wharton, but he was named to no committees and did not speak. He continued to serve on local commissions until his death, and it is possible that he challenged the Whitmore interest in the Bridgnorth elections of 1661 and 1663. He was buried at Morville on 3 Sept. 1665.