Flora Eaton

Ardwold shortly after its completion, circa 1910

McCrea was born in 1879 in the Village of Omemee, Ontario, a small community in Victoria County, today part of the City of Kawartha Lakes. She was the youngest of eight children born to Irish Protestant immigrants, John McCrea, a cabinetmaker, and Jane McNeely.[1] McCrea moved to Toronto and became a nurse, first at Toronto General Hospital then at Rotherham House, a private hospital on Sherbourne Street. While working at Rotherdam House, Flora met John Craig Eaton, a patient who was the son and heir of Eaton's department store founder Timothy Eaton.[2] The two were married on May 8, 1901, in Omemee.[1]

They had five biological children, Timothy Craig Eaton (1903–1986), John David Eaton (1906–1973), Edgar Allison Eaton (1912–1988), Gilbert McCrea Eaton (1915–1985) and Florence Mary Eaton (1919–2012), and adopted one daughter, Evlyn Beatrice Eaton (1920–1989).[2]

The Eatons built a massive Georgian style mansion on Spadina Road in 1911. Named Ardwold, the Gaelic word for "high, green hill", the house was one of the most lavish ever constructed in Toronto and was designed by Frank Wickson. The couple also built a vacation home named Kawandag on Lake Rosseau in Muskoka.[1]

In 1915, during World War I, her husband was knighted in recognition of his contributions to the war effort and became Sir John Craig Eaton, Flora was henceforth known as Lady Eaton. She was active in charity during the war, hosting fundraisers at Ardwold and serving as patroness of the 109th Batallion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force based at Lindsay, Ontario, near her hometown.

Lady Eaton and her son, John David Eaton, at the opening of Eaton's College Street, October 30, 1930

Lady Eaton was widowed in 1922 when her husband died of influenza at the age of 46. In 1919, prior to his death, Sir John and Lady Eaton purchased a plot of land in King City, Ontario, near their friends, Sir Henry and Lady Pellatt's estate, Marylake. By the mid-1930s, Lady Eaton grew tired of Ardwold and found it too grand, so she built a Norman Revival château known as Eaton Hall on the King City property. The contents of Ardwold were auctioned off and the house was demolished with dynamite as its walls were too thick for conventional demolition.

In her widowhood, she often spent the winters travelling through Europe. In the late 1920s, she purchased Villa Natalia, a villa in Fiesole, outside Florence, which was built for Queen Elisabeth of Romania.[1] In 1933, Lady Eaton was presented at court, later that same year, she presented her future daughter-in-law, Signy Stefansson. In 1937, she attended the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and presented her daughters Florence and Evlyn at court.[2][1]

Lady Eaton with her daughters, Florence and Evlyn, at a meeting of the Toronto Hunt Club, circa 1930

During her son's minority, Eaton's was run by Robert Young Eaton, a cousin of her husband. Lady Eaton disliked R.Y., as he was known, she looked down on his branch of the family, calling them the "worker Eatons", compared to her branch of the family who were the "owner Eatons".[1][2] She sat on the board of directors and took an active role in the company, overseeing the development of restaurants, most notably the Georgian Room at the Queen Street store, Eaton's Seventh Floor Restaurant at the College Street store and Eaton's Ninth Floor Restaurant in Montreal. The latter two were built in the Art Deco style by French architect Jacques Carlu.[1]

Lady Eaton presents a cheque to the Canadian Red Cross at a benefit at Eaton Hall, 1941

On her many visits to Britain, Lady Eaton became fascinated by the liturgical pageantry of the Church of England. She included some elements of the Anglican church such as clerical vestments, kneelers and candelabra into services at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. These changes were met with objection by the minister and other congregants who argued this pomp was not part of the United Church of Canada with its roots in Methodism. However, due to the influence Lady Eaton held, they went ahead. In 1938, she funded a renovation of the chancel in memory of her late husband which made the floorplan closer to an Anglican church than that of a Methodist one.[2]

During World War II, Lady Eaton housed evacuated British children at Eaton Hall. They referred to her as "Auntie Flora". After the war, the house became a convalescent home for the Royal Canadian Navy for a time before becoming a private home again.[1] She hosted a banquet for Eaton's employees returning from the front in September of 1946. She also hosted an annual soirée for Eaton's managers and their wives.[1] She was vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross, Master of the Toronto Hunt Club and involved with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Art Gallery of Toronto and the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene.[2] In 1950, in recognition of her charity efforts, Lady Eaton was made a Dame of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.[3] At the height of the store's success, Lady Eaton was popularly known as "Mrs. Canada".[4]

Interested in the occult, Lady Eaton had a séance room built in the turret of Eaton Hall. The ceiling of this circular room is painted with the zodiac.[5]

As her health failed, Lady Eaton moved from Eaton Hall to her secondary residence on Old Forest Hill Road in Toronto's Forest Hill neighbourhood. She died at home on July 9, 1970, at the age of 90. Her funeral was held on July 15 at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. She was interred in the Eaton Mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Eaton Hall, 2009

Lady Eaton's legacy is still felt heavily to this day, particularly in her hometown of Omemee and surrounding area. Lady Eaton Elementary School in the village and Lady Eaton College at Trent University in nearby Peterborough are named in her honour. The Eatons donated Coronation Hall, Omemee's municipal building, in 1911, and a manse and pipe organ to Trinity United Church. The family proposed that the village change its name to Eatonville, but the offer was refused.[4]

After her death, Eaton Hall became the King Campus of Seneca College. The house became home to the college's administrative offices and later its Management Development Centre until 1991. The college continues to make use of the grounds while the house is now a hotel and conference centre.[6]

In 1994, Royal Doulton produced a figurine in Lady Eaton's image to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Eaton's. Limited to a production of 2,500, each figurine was marked with its production sequence.

• Chung, Andrew (2009-05-17). "Deprived of an art deco wonder". Toronto Star.
• John Craig Eaton and Flora McCrea Eaton fonds, Archives of Ontario