Fanny Eaton

Fanny Eaton

Fanny Antwistle or Entwhistle was born on 23 June 1835 in Jamaica. Her mother was Matilda Foster, a woman of African descent. Eaton and her mother made their way to England some time in the 1840s. By 1851 she is recorded as living in London, with her mother.

About Fanny Eaton in brief

Summary Fanny EatonFanny Antwistle or Entwhistle was born on 23 June 1835 in Jamaica. Her mother was Matilda Foster, a woman of African descent, who may have been born into slavery. Eaton and her mother made their way to England some time in the 1840s. By 1851 she is recorded as living in London, with her mother, and working as a domestic servant. In 1857 she married James Eaton, a horse-cab proprietor and driver.

It was during this period of Fanny Eaton’s life as mother and new wife that she began modelling for the Pre-Raphaelites. Her public debut was in Simeon Solomon’s painting The Mother of Moses, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860. She was also featured in works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Joanna Mary Boyce, Rebecca Solomon, and others.