Uriemon Eaton

Uriemon Eaton or Ureamon Eaton (fl. 1639–1640, c.1621–1670) was a Trinity College alumnus and early member of the Japanese in the United Kingdom.

Uriemon Eaton
Born
Hirado, Japan
Died
Kingdom of England
OccupationScholar
Known forBeing the first Japanese Briton to attend Trinity College, Cambridge

Biography

Eaton was an early member of the Japanese in the United Kingdom, born in Hirado, Japan after his father William Eaton and mother Kamezo (William's common-law wife) met during the period of the opening of the English trade factory East India Company in Japan (1613-1623). Eaton also had a half sister 'Helena' born to O'Man.[1] In English sources such as the Diary of Richard Cocks, early Euro-Asian relations are discussed including his life as a member of the English community in Japan. On occasion he appears in the English records as both William or Uriemon Eaton.[2]

Cocks relays how Eaton was taken by his father to live with him in England at a young age after the closing of the English factory in 1623, travelling separately via Batavia on a Dutch ship in 1624, sent by Cocks.[3] His family left behind in Japan (Kamezou and Helena) also kept in contact from Japan until at least 1624 via Cocks.[4] When Cocks died in 1624, Uriemon was accepted and 'maintained' (supported) through his studies by family and friends in England.[5] He is known to have petitioned Charles I of England in 1639 for denizen rights to gain access higher education, gaining these and attending Trinity College in Cambridge in 1640, then again after a bout of illness, in 1641.[6][7] Later records point to his having survived until the late 1670s.[8]

Further reading
  • The English Factory in Japan, 1613-1623, Volume II, Anthony Farrington, British Library, 1991, Great Britain

Reference List
  1. Adams The Pilot, William Corr, 1995, p.124, London
  2. The Japanese Community in Pre-War Britain: From Integration to Disintegration, Keiko Itoh, 2001, p.17, Routledge, London and New York
  3. Nifon Catange or Japon Fation- A Study of Cultural Interaction In the English Factory In Japan, 1613-1623 Volume II, James Lewis, 2003, Footnote 357
  4. See
  5. The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters, Adele Lee, 2017, pp.88-89, See
  6. The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations: Volume 1: The Political-Diplomatic Dimension, 1600–1930, Ian Nish, Yoichi Kibata, 2000, p.9, London, Routledge
  7. English Dreams and Japanese Realities: Anglo-Japanese Encounters Around the Globe, 1587-1673, Thomas Lockley, Revista de Cultura, 2019
  8. Anjin ‑ The Life & Times of Samurai William Adams, Hiromi Rogers, 2016
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