William Morton Eden was born at Windlestone Hall in County Durham on 4 April 1849. He was the second son of eleven children born to the former Elfrida Susanna Harriet Iremonger and Sir William Eden, 4th Baronet, who was described as "a sober and pious man". On his paternal side, he had many prominent relatives including aunt Caroline Eden Parker, and uncles: the Rt. Rev. Robert Eden, Lt. Gen. George Morton Eden, and Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Eden, Second Naval Lord. His maternal grandfather was William Iremonger, Esq. of Wherwell Priory.
Baronetage
After the death of his twenty-year-old uncle, Sir Frederick Eden, 3rd Baronet, in 1814, his then eleven-year-old father became the 4th Baronet of Maryland. The baronetcy of Maryland had been created in 1776 for his great-grandfather, Sir Robert Eden, the last Royal Governor of Maryland. In 1844, Sir William's father also succeeded as the 6th Baronet of West Auckland after the death of his first cousin once removed, Sir Robert Johnson-Eden, 5th Baronet. The baronetcy of West Auckland had been created in 1672 for Sir Robert Eden, MP for County Durham, whose father was a Royalist supporter during the English Civil War. Upon his father's death on 21 October 1873, he became the 7th Baronet of West Auckland and 5th Baronet of Maryland as his elder brother died without male issue before him.
Career
Sir William, who was described as an eccentric and often foul-tempered man, was a former colonel and local magistrate. He was also a talented watercolourist and exhibited regularly in London and Paris. He was also a collector of Impressionists, and owned a chalk drawing of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, -1754, which is today in the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. He was a cornet in the 8th Hussars. He was known as a daring traveler during his Grand Tour. He was a sportsman who served as Master of the Durham Hunt and gardener.
Personal life
In 1886, he was married to Sybil Frances Grey, a daughter of Sir William Grey and a member of the famous Grey family of Northumberland. After their marriage, they lived at Windlestone Hall and his wife was a popular figure. However, her profligacy reportedly ruined the family fortunes. Together, they were the parents of five children who survived infancy, including:
Nicholas William Eden, who was killed when the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable blew up and sank at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. He was just sixteen years old and the vivid memory of being told of his death stayed with his brother Anthony for many years.
In 1892, he commissioned the American artist James McNeill Whistler to paint a portrait of his wife, Lady Eden. After the portrait was completed, Eden and Whistler fought over a fair price before the dispute ended up in the press, followed by a court proceeding brought by Eden in Paris in 1895. While Eden won the suit, Whistler destroyed the painting and in 1899 published Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict "skewering the knight with his own pride". Sir William died in London on 20 February 1915, and was succeeded by his eldest son Timothy, who sold Windlestone in 1936. Sir William was originally buried at Windlestone Hall Mausoleum, but was later reinterred at St. Helen's Churchyard in December 1984. Lady Eden died in 1945.
