Date Published:
June 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Sir John Craig Eaton

Eaton, Sir John Craig (1876-1922), merchant and philanthropist, was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 28, 1876 , the third son of Timothy Eaton and Margaret Beattie. He received his education at the Model School and Upper Canada college, Toronto, and as a young man he entered business in the departmental store which his father had founded. In 1898 he became a director of the T. Eaton Company; and in 1900, on the death of his elder brother, Edward Young Eaton, he became vice-president. In 1907, on his father's death, he succeeded his father as president; and he continued at the head of the business for the rest of his life. A man of great wealth, he was famous for his benefactions; and during the Great War of 1914-18 he contributed in many different ways to the Allied cause. For his war services, he was created in 1915 a knight bachelor. He died at Toronto on March 30, 1922. In 1901 he married Florence, daughter of John McCrae, of Omemee, Ontario ; they had four sons and one daughter.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada , 1948, 411p., p. 258.