{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Short description|British writer}} [[File:The Council of the Royal Academy Selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875.png|thumb|280px|''[[The Council of the Royal Academy Selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875]]'' by [[Charles West Cope]]. Eaton is shown seated and writing.]] '''Sir Frederick Alexis Eaton''' (20 January 1838<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Frederick A. Eaton (1838–1913) |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/frederick-a-eaton |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809202928/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/frederick-a-eaton |archive-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] |location=London |access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref> – 10 September 1913<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 September 1913 |title=Funeral of Sir F. Eaton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/821001850/ |url-access=subscription |work=The Kensington News and West London Times |publisher=James Wakeham & Co. |number=2333 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=12 September 1913 |title=Deaths |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1913-09-13/1/3.html |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |number=40316 |page=1}}</ref>) was a British writer and editor. He was a chronicler and secretary of the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]], and also a [[Medieval studies|medievalist]].
Eaton was born in [[Teignmouth]], Devon, the seventh son of Charlotte (''née'' Short) and Richard Eaton. He was educated at [[King's College School]],<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=28 July 1849 |title=King's College |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1849-07-28/5/4.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |number=20240 |location=London |page=5}}</ref> and graduated from [[St Alban Hall, Oxford]] in 1860.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foster |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Foster (genealogist) |date=1891 |title=Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886 |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/alumnioxoniense00oxfogoog/page/n15/mode/1up |location=Oxford |publisher=James Parker & Co |page=404 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> A frequent contributor to ''[[Quarterly Review|The Quarterly Review]]'', ''[[Macmillan's Magazine]]'', ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]'', ''[[The Nineteenth Century (periodical)|The Nineteenth Century]]'', and other periodicals, Eaton edited ''[[Murray's Handbooks for Travellers]]'' to Southern Italy and Egypt between 1870 and 1880.
In 1873, he was appointed secretary of the Royal Academy with a salary of £500 ''per annum'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Hutchinson |first=Sidney C. |date=1986 |title=The History of the Royal Academy 1768-1986 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofroyalac0000hutc/page/116/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Robert Royce Ltd. |isbn=0947728236 |page=116 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and remained in the post until his death (in [[Kensington]], London). [[Thomas Graham Jackson]] commented on Eaton's "gentlemanly tact and unfailing temper" when dealing with irascible artists, and noted that his "enormous experience in the business of the Academy for more than 40 years made his services invaluable".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=26 September 1913 |title=Obituary – The Late Sir Frederick Eaton {{bracket|Letter}} |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1913-09-26/7/13.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |location=London |number=40327 |page=7}}</ref> With [[John Evan Hodgson]], he was author of ''The Royal Academy and Its Members 1768–1830'' (1905).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |author-link1=John Evan Hodgson |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred. A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1905 |title=The Royal Academy and Its Members 1768–1830 |url=https://archive.org/details/royalacademyitsm00hodg/page/n8/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=John Murray |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1905 |title=Some Recent Art Books |work=[[The Art Journal]] |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_art-journal-us_1905/page/n329/mode/1up |volume=67 |pages=284–285 |location=London |publisher=Virtue & Co. |via=Internet Archive }}</ref> Eaton also edited an 1882 two-volume translation from the German of [[Moritz Thausing]]'s ''Life and Works'' of [[Albrecht Dürer]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Thausing |first=Moritz |author-link=Moritz Thausing |editor-last=Eaton |editor-first=Fred A. |date=1882 |title=Albert Dürer: His Life and Works |volume=I |url=https://archive.org/details/albertdrerhislif01thau/page/n8/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=John Murray |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Thausing |first=Moritz |editor-last=Eaton |editor-first=Fred A. |date=1882 |title=Albert Dürer: His Life and Works |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/albertdrerhisl01thau/page/n8/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=John Murray |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> which received a favourable review in the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'',<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=8 May 1882 |title=Literary Notes |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20577421/ |url-access=subscription |volume=31 |number=9568 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and compiled a list of art in the possession of the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] with [[Spencer Ponsonby-Fane]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ponsonby-Fane |first1=Spencer |author-link1=Spencer Ponsonby-Fane |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |edition=Second |date=1912 |title=Catalogue of the Pictures, Drawings, Sculpture, Prints, etc.; and Also of a Collection of Old Bats Belonging to the Marylebone Cricket Club |location=London |publisher=[[William Clowes Ltd.|William Clowes and Sons]]}}</ref>
In December 1871, Eaton married Caroline Charlotte Greville,<ref>{{cite news |date=21 December 1871 |title=Marriages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/392145229/ |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Pall Mall Gazette]] |volume=14 |number=2189 |page=5 |location=[[St Martin-in-the-Fields (parish)|St Martin-in-the-Fields]] |publisher=Frederick Enoch |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Robert H. |date=1884 |title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage |edition=Royal |url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerageb1864mair/page/n720/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=Dean and Son |page=689 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> who died in 1893, and the couple had no children. He was knighted in 1911.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=12 September 1913 |title=Obituary – Sir Frederick A. Eaton |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1913-09-12/9/11.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |number=40315 |location=London |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 September 1913 |title=Obituary – Sir Frederick Eaton |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_building-uk_1913-09-19_105_3685/page/303/mode/1up |work=[[Building|The Builder]] |volume=105 |number=3685 |location=London |page=303 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
==Selected publications== *{{cite magazine |last=Eaton |first=Fred A. |date=1 December 1883 |title=The Educational Work of the Royal Academy |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924066515283&seq=793 |work=[[The Fortnightly Review]] |series=New series |volume=39 |number=209 |pages=783–790 |location=London |publisher=Chapman and Hall |via=[[HathiTrust]]}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |author-link1=John Evan Hodgson |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1889 |title=The Royal Academy in the Last Century |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft44r4kb17&seq=153 |work=[[The Art Journal]] |volume=51 |pages=129–134,161–167,238–244,293–300,320–325 |location=London |publisher=J. S. Virtue and Co. |via=HathiTrust}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1890 |title=The Royal Academy in the Last Century |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft0bw45356&seq=62 |work=The Art Journal |volume=52 |pages=46–51,108–114,205–211,257–263,337–344 |via=HathiTrust}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1891 |title=The Royal Academy in the Last Century |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft9r27ms06&seq=134 |work=The Art Journal |volume=53 |pages=114–120,341–347 |via=HathiTrust}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1895 |title=The Royal Academy in the Present Century |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7rn9wv0g&seq=177 |work=The Art Journal |volume=57 |pages=143–146,243–247 |via=HathiTrust}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1897 |title=The Royal Academy in the Present Century |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft6zw8690n&seq=223 |work=The Art Journal |volume=59 |pages=185–188 |via=HathiTrust}}
*{{cite magazine |last1=Leslie |first1=J. D. |author-link1=George Dunlop Leslie |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |name-list-style=amp |date=1903 |title=The Royal Academy in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_art-journal-us_1903/page/5/mode/1up |work=The Art Journal |volume=65 |pages=5–9,331–335,372–376 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
*{{cite magazine |last=Eaton |first=Fred A. |date=1904 |title=The Royal Academy |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951001920009c&seq=437 |work=[[Scribner's Magazine]] |volume=36 |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |pages=413–427,556–572 |via=HathiTrust}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/portrait-of-sir-frederick-eaton Portrait of Eaton] (1913) by [[Edward Poynter|Sir Edward Poynter]] on the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] website. *[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp01415/sir-frederick-alexis-eaton Images of Eaton] on the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easton, Frederick}} [[Category:1838 births]] [[Category:1913 deaths]] [[Category:British medievalists]] [[Category:Alumni of St Alban Hall, Oxford]] [[Category:People educated at King's College School, London]]