Henry William Eaton
(1816-1891)
1 March 1861
Volume 2, page 250, sitting number 2289.
Born on 13 March 1816, Henry William Eaton was the son of Henry Eaton, a London merchant.
After serving an apprenticeship in a commercial house in the City, he embarked on the silk business in Coventry, where he established the firm of Henry William Eaton and Sons as the leading silk firm in the country, and incidentally made a very large fortune.
On 22 October 1839 he married Charlotte Gorham Harman, only daughter and heiress of Thomas Leader Harman, originally of New Orleans, Louisiana. Their marriage produced three sons (though the eldest died in 1879) and two daughters. Mrs Eaton died in 1877.
From 1865 to 1880 he was the Member of Parliament (Conservative) for Coventry, and again from 1881 to 1887.
On 9 July 1887 he was created 1st Baron Cheylesmore of Cheylesmore in the city of Coventry. He took his title from the name of the ancient manor in Coventry, once the property of Edward, the Black Prince, which Mr Eaton had bought from the Marquis of Hertford in 1871.
The Right Honourable Henry William Cheylesmore of 16 Princes Gate (on the south side of Hyde Park) died on 2 October 1891 at Warsaw in Poland. He left an estate valued at £117,514.
‘We deeply regret to announce the death of Lord Cheylesmore, which occurred yesterday at Warsaw, in Poland. Some weeks ago his lordship left England for a tour in Russia, accompanied by General Du Plat, CB, Equerry to the Queen. After visiting Moscow and St Petersburg, Lord Cheylesmore was detained at Warsaw by what at first appeared to be a slight ailment, from which no danger was apprehended. Intelligence to this effect was received in London a day or two ago. The malady seems suddenly to have become acute, for to the deep sorry of a large circle of society, telegrams have now come to hand announcing his [L]ordship’s decease. The intelligence reached Coventry late last night. […] His Lordship was found dead in bed’ (Coventry Evening Telegraph, 3 October 1891).
‘The Right Hon. Henry William Eaton, first Baron Cheylesmore, was born in 1816, and educated firstly at Enfield and afterwards at Paris. He was early entered to commercial life in the City of London, and is largely connected with the silk trade, besides being a director of the Marine Insurance and of the Imperial Fire Assurance Companies. His lordship is also a Fellow of the Geographical, Horticultural, and Botanical Societies, and a DL for Suffolk and the Tower Hamlets. In 1865, on the death of Sir Joseph Paxton, he was elected for Coventry, which city, with the exception of 1880-81, he continued to represent until the year of Her Majesty’s Jubilee, when he was raised to the peerage under the title of Baron Cheylesmore, the name of his manor at Coventry.
‘Though his lordship has been too busily engaged all his life to take a very active part in sport, yet for many years he has been a member of the Four-in-Hand Club, and a regular attendant with his smart bays at the meets, while his coach is also frequently seen at the race courses within driving distance of town.
‘In 1839 his lordship was married to the only daughter of the late Mr Thomas Leader Harman, of New Orleans, who died in 1877’ (Sporting Gazette, 11 July 1891).
‘The possessor of an immense fortune, he was a patron of the fine arts, and he never evinced a keener pleasure than when showing visitors his treasures at his splendid residence at Prince’s Gate, prominent among them being Landseer’s celebrated painting, “The Monarch of the Glen”’ (Coventry Reporter and General Advertiser, 3 October 1891). His Wikipedia page has much more information about his art collection.