Eaton family (Toronto)

{{Short description|Canadian family and department store owners}}

{{about|the Canadian retailing family|other persons with the surname Eaton|Eaton (surname)|other uses|Eaton (disambiguation)}}

File:Eaton Family Mausoleum.jpg in Toronto, with lions by sculptor Eli Harvey]]

The Eaton family is a Canadian family of Scottish-Irish Methodist origin. Established in Toronto, the family dynasty began in 1869 when Timothy Eaton (1834–1907) founded Eaton's, which became a national chain of department stores. At its height, the family's net worth was around $2 billion. Although the Eaton's department store chain went bankrupt in 1999, the family still holds considerable wealth.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and author Rod McQueen have dubbed them as "Canada's royal family",{{cite book|author= Rod McQueen|title= The Eatons: The rise and fall of Canada's royal family|url= https://archive.org/details/eatonsrisefallof0000mcqu_m2r6/page/320|year= 1998|publisher= Stoddart|location= Toronto|isbn= 0-7737-3120-2|pages= [https://archive.org/details/eatonsrisefallof0000mcqu_m2r6/page/320 320]}} with the CBC describing the Eatons as "homegrown aristocracy", which drew comparisons to the influential Kennedy family.{{Cite web|url = http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/economy-business/consumer-goods/eatons-a-canadian-institution-1/canadian-royalty.html|title = Eaton's: Canadian royalty|publisher = CBC Digital Archives}} The Eatons were well known for their lavish lifestyle and occasional philanthropy.

Notable family members

File:Timothy Eaton Portrait.jpg in 1903]]

John Eaton (1784–1834), m. Margaret Craig (1796–1848)
Robert Eaton (1816–1893)
Eliza Jane Eaton (1819–1861)
Mary Anne Eaton (1821–1841)
Margaret Eaton (1824–1900)
John Eaton (1827–1895), m. Margaret Herbison (1833–1907)
William Herbison Eaton (1873–)
{{Tree list/final branch}} (3) Robert Young Eaton (1875–1956),President of Eaton's, 1922{{endash}}1942 m. Hazel Ireland (1889–1965)
Margaret Craig Eaton (1912—1988),(Director-General, Canadian Women's Army Corps, 1944{{endash}}1945) {{Cite web|title = The Canadian Women's Army Corps, 1941-1946|author = Barbara Dundas and Dr. Serge Durflinger|url = http://www.warmuseum.ca/education/online-educational-resources/dispatches/the-canadian-womens-army-corps-1941-1946/|publisher = Canadian War Museum|access-date = 11 February 2013}}{{cite book |author= Henry B. M. Best|title= Margaret and Charley: The Personal Story of Dr. Charles Best, the Co-Discoverer of Insulin|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=b8iOew_ntRsC&pg=PA260|year= 2003|publisher= Dundurn Press|location= Toronto|isbn= 1-55002-399-3|page= 260}} m. John Hubert Dunn (1897–)
John Wallace Eaton (1912–1990)worked at Eaton's; managed Montreal store (twin brother of Margaret), m. Phyllis Finlayson (1915–1997)
Edith Elisabeth Nora Eaton (1913–2010),{{cite news|title = van der Stricht, Edith Elisabeth Nora Eaton |url = http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20100807.93239385/BDAStory/BDA/deaths|date = 7 August 2010|newspaper = The Globe and Mail|access-date = 11 February 2013}} m. Paul Robert van der Stricht (1908–2004){{Cite web|title = Paul Robert van der Stricht |url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=paul-robert-van-der-stricht&pid=2514379#fbLoggedOut|date = 14 August 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date = 13 February 2013}}
Erskine Robert Eaton (1915–1942) (died in Dieppe Raid)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Alan Young Eaton (1916–2000), m. Diana Fishleigh
Nancy Eaton (1829–)
Sarah Eaton (1831–)
James Eaton (1832–1904)
{{Tree list/final branch}} (1) Timothy Eaton (1834–1907),President of Eaton's, 1870{{endash}}1907 m. Margaret Wilson Beattie (1841–1933)
Josephine Smyth Eaton (1865–1943), m. Thomas David Meldrum Burnside (1835–1900)
Iris Margaret Burnside (1894–1915) (died on the RMS Lusitania)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Allan Eaton Meldrum Burnside (1898–1937)
Margaret Elizabeth Beattie Eaton (1867–1952), m. Charles Eldridge Burden (1863)
Margaret Beattie Eaton Burden (1898–), m. Billy Bishop (1894–1956)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Henry John Burden (1894–1960)
Edward Young Eaton (1871–1900), m. Tillie Robinson (1869–1895)
Marjorie Tillie Eaton (1892–1952), m. Harold Simcoe Coulson (1884–1936)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Alice Eaton (1894–), m. Edward Browse
{{Tree list/final branch}} Edward Eaton, m. Nancy Leigh Gossage (1926–2007){{cite news|title = EATON, Nancy Leigh (Snubby) (nee Gossage)|url = http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20070827.93115316/BDAStory/BDA/deaths|date = 27 August 2007|newspaper = The Globe and Mail|access-date = 14 February 2013}}
{{Tree list/final branch}} Nancy Alice Edward Eaton (1961–1985) (murdered)
William Fletcher Eaton (1875–1935),worked at Eaton's; managed textile manufacturing plant (Oshawa 1903{{endash}}1916) m. Gertrude Nora Cook (1877–)
Josephine Norah Eaton (1900–), m. George Edward Leishman (1897–)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Noel Beattie Eaton (1910–1996), m. Julia Isabell Fleming (1912–1989)
{{Tree list/final branch}} (2) Sir John Craig Eaton (1876–1922),President of Eaton's, 1907{{endash}}1922 m. Flora McCrea (1879–1970), formally known as Lady Eaton
Timothy Craig Eaton (1903–1986){{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
(4) John David Eaton (1909–1973),President of Eaton's, 1942{{endash}}1973 m. Signy Hildur Stefansson (1913–1992)
John Craig Eaton II (1937–), m. Catherine Farr
John David Eaton (1961–)
Signy Eaton (1962–)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Henry Craig Eaton (1963–)
(5) Fredrik Stefan Eaton (1938–2021),President of Eaton's, 1977{{endash}}1988; High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom, 1991{{endash}}1994 m. Catherine Martin (1940–2023)
Fredrik D'Arcy Eaton
Fredrik Gordon Eaton (2007–)
William D'Arcy Neil Eaton (2008–)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Flora Catherine Eaton Coakley
Thor Edgar Eaton (1942–2017),promoter of the Festival Express in 1970, as depicted in the 2003 film.{{cite news |last= Langan|first= Fred|date= April 20, 2017|title= Eaton's department store heir Thor Eaton loved horses and rock music |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/eatons-department-store-heir-thor-eaton-loved-horses-and-rock-music/article34768703/|work= The Globe and Mail}} m. Nicole Courtois (1945–)
Thor Eaton
{{Tree list/final branch}} Cleophée Eaton
{{Tree list/final branch}} (6) George Ross Eaton (1945–)President of Eaton's, 1988{{endash}}1997
Edgar Allison Eaton (1912–1988), m. Mildred Jarvis Page (1915–1968)
Gilbert McCrea Eaton (1915–1985), m. Marjorie Ann Maston (1913–1988)
Florence Mary Eaton (1919–2012),{{cite news|title = McEACHREN, Florence Mary (nee Eaton)|url = http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20120426.93292639/BDAStory/BDA/deaths|date = 26 April 2012|newspaper = The Globe and Mail|access-date = 13 February 2013}}{{Cite web|title = Florence Mary Eaton McEachren 1919-2012|author = Rod McQueen|url = http://www.rodmcqueen.com/2012/04/florence-mary-eaton-mceachren-1919-2012/|date = 27 April 2012|access-date = 11 February 2013}} m. Frank Flavelle McEachren (1918–1995)
{{Tree list/final branch}} Evlyn Beatrice Eaton (1919?–1989) (adopted), m. Russell Payton (1915–1976)

;Notes

Not exhaustive – listing is generally restricted to siblings of Timothy Eaton, his children, their spouses, and significant descendants.
(#) – order of succession as the head of Eaton's.