Eade was prominent in various aspects of Collingwood life but is now probably best remembered for his involvement with the Collingwood School of Design. Pupils included the inventor Louis Brennan, who showed some of his work at the first exhibition, and the artist, Tom Roberts, who recalled the encouragement of 'higher aspirations in lads who might otherwise have dragged on as common plodders’.

Having arrived in Melbourne in 1857, Eade set up as a builder and architect in Collingwood in the early 1860s.  He was an assessor for the borough in 1866-69, a member of the Municipal Council in 1869-75 and mayor in 1870-71. As honorary surveyor he planned new public buildings, and served on the 1871 parliamentary inquiry into Melbourne and suburban sewerage.  From 1870 until shortly before his death, he sat on the bench of the Collingwood Court; he was also active in general education as a returning officer for the Collingwood School Board of Advice. After a considerable absence from council he stood for Victoria Ward in February 1894, winning by only six votes against hatmaker Edward Shaw. He finally retired from council in November 1901.

Eade was sometimes honoured as if the Collingwood School of Design was entirely his own concept ('the father of technical education). In fact it was at the instigation of the Technological Commission, appointed in 1869 to promote technical education in Victoria, that these municipal schools were established. However, while an apprentice in England he had attended classes at the local Mechanics Institute to acquire knowledge of drawing and design, and the improvement of technical skills was very much a project close to his heart. He was to remain president of the School of Design for 30 years or more; moreover, he took the Collingwood school a step further, establishing the Artisans’ School of Practical Works so that youths could be taught to put their skills to practical use. They were also told ‘how they should act with respect to their masters, and that they should strive in some measure to repay the gentlemen who were taking so much trouble to advance their future welfare’. The School of Works closed in 1875, partly due to Eade’s ill health but also, according to him, due to the apathy of government and local men.

When he first came to Collingwood Eade built Mexican Terrace, a row of small brick cottages in Hoddle Street just south of Gipps Street, and lived in one of them. As his position improved he built himself a new house to the south, eventually numbered 119. This was two storeys with 10 rooms, and had an office next door. He was a member of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects; his son also became an architect and lived and worked in Hoddle Street, although whether in partnership or in his own business is not clear.

At his death the widower left his land, houses and financial assets to his son and grandchildren, with one exception. Mary Ann Jones, a nurse employed by Eade at the time of his death and living in the end Mexican Terrace cottage next door, was willed a lifetime right to remain in the house free of charge.

Mexican Terrace and 119 Hoddle St  
Mexican Terrace