Editing Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet (section)

==Marriage and issue==
[[File:Mary_Anne_Acton,_Lady_Acton_%281784-1873%29_by_Nicolas_François_Dun.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Mary Ann Acton, Lady Acton in 1823]]
On 2 February 1800, at the age of 63, he married his 13 year-old niece Mary Ann Acton (1786-1873), the eldest daughter of his younger brother General Joseph Edward Acton (1737-1830) and his wife, Marie Eleonore Berghe von Trips (1769-1848), sister-in-law of [[Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal#Marriage and issue|Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://gw.geneanet.org/frebault?lang=en&pz=henri&nz=frebault&p=joseph+edouard&n=acton | title=Family tree of Joseph Edouard Acton }}</ref> The marriage appears to have been made for dynastic purposes to keep control of the family's wealth<ref name="ODNB"/> and required [[papal dispensation]] due to [[consanguinity]]. On hearing the news Nelson commented "it is never too late to do well"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000007393814?urlappend=%3Bseq=246|title=The dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson |volume=4|page=206|date=1845 |first=Sir Nicholas Harris|last=Nicolas |publisher=H. Colburn |hdl=2027/inu.32000007393814?urlappend=%3Bseq=246 |access-date=2020-10-22}}</ref> and following his arrival in Naples threw a party for the newlyweds aboard his flagship, the ''Foudroyant''. "By raising the awning twenty feet, removing the guns, and robing the masts in silk, two spacious rooms were given, and these were most splendidly decorated; and when lighted up in the evening, really presented a fairy-like appearance, while the music that floated over the calm waters of this beautiful bay was softened. All the nobles of the court, with the exception of the king and queen, were there". The festivities were somewhat marred when a drunk British lieutenant accidentally knocked an Italian princess into the water; on emerging she furiously and unsuccessfully demanded he be hanged from the foreyard arm.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWJiAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA50|title=Nelsonian Reminiscences |pages=50–52|date=1843 |first=George Samuel|last=Parsons |access-date=2020-10-22}}</ref>

By his wife he had three children:<ref name="EB1911"/>
*[[Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton|Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet]] (1801–1837), eldest son and heir, whose son was [[John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton|John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli]].
*[[Charles Januarius Acton|Charles Januarius Edward Cardinal Acton]] (1803–1847)
*Elizabeth Acton (1806–1850), who married [[Sir Robert Throckmorton, 8th Baronet]], of [[Coughton Court]], Warwickshire, and had issue.