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Uriemon Eaton

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Uriemon Eaton
Born
Died
OccupationScholar
Known forBeing the first Japanese Briton to attend Trinity College, Cambridge

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.

Biography

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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

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

Reference List

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  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 [1]
  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