Sir Thomas Dyke Acland and Thomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen

The British baronet and politician Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1778–1871) was widely known for his liberal views, as well as his involvement in humanitarian and religious activities. He visited Norway many times. In 1813, he met Thomas Tellefsen's father, who was librarian of the Trondheim Learned Society. After one of his later visits to Trondheim, in 1822, Sir Thomas sent the Tellefsens his portrait. The gift came just before the baptism of their new-born son, so the child was named Thomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen. However, as the family had not asked the British politician's permission to adopt his name, using it came to be a problem. On the first page of Tellefsen's first printed opus, the Mazurkas, Op. 1 (1846), the composer gave his name in the shortened form: “Thomas Tellefsen”. The Mazurkas, Op. 3, published in 1849, and further published works are signed “T. D. A. Tellefsen”.

The change in the form of his name followed a situation which took place during Tellefsen’s stay in London in 1848. Tellefsen described it in a letter to his father: “One evening, I was at a soirée at the home of Sir Robert Inglis [1786–1855, British conservative politician]. (…) Sir Inglis introduced me to many people, and finally said: and now I will introduce you to a gentleman who travelled around Norway and who will be most pleased to speak to you; imagine my astonishment when I saw a lively, handsome old man whose name was Thomas Acland (…), in one instant, we became friends; I told him at once the story of my name. And then he presented me to the whole company as Thomas Acland Tellefsen! What a beautiful moment for me”. (Letter of 8 June 1848). 

Tellefsen maintained this friendship and visited Sir Thomas numerous times on his estate in Killerton in Devon.