Robert Eyton (priest, died 1908)

Robert Eyton ("A fashionable Canon") in Vanity Fair, 1898

Robert Eyton (21 June 1845 – 7 August 1908) was an Anglican priest, Rector of St Margaret's, Westminster from 1895 to 1899.

The second son of Robert William Eyton, Robert Eyton was educated at Shrewsbury School[1] and Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in 1864 aged 19, graduating B.A. 1869 (M.A. 1872),[2] and was ordained in 1870.[1]

He became Sub-Almoner to the Queen (1883), Rector of Upper Chelsea (1884), a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral (1885),[2] and was appointed a Canon of Westminster Abbey and Rector of St Margaret's, Westminster in December 1895.[3]

In January 1899, Eyton resigned suddenly. Although his obituary later gave the cause as "complete breakdown under mental strain,"[4] this is believed to be due to a homosexuality scandal.[5] He emigrated to Australia in 1900 as Rector of Charleville, Queensland, and was appointed Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Bathurst in 1903.[1]

Having fallen ill after mistakenly taking liniment instead of cough mixture, he died on 7 August 1908, aged 63, in Bathurst, New South Wales.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Auden, J. E., ed. (1909). Shrewsbury School Register 1734–1908. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Foster, Joseph. "Eyton, Robert (4)" . Alumni Oxonienses  – via Wikisource.
  3. ^ "No. 26686". The London Gazette. 6 December 1895. p. 7063.
  4. ^ a b "A Clergyman's Mistake". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 August 1908. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  5. ^ Hyam, Ronald (1990). Empire and Sexuality: The British Experience. Manchester University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780719025044. Retrieved 11 September 2019.