William Cotman Eade was born William Eade at Rushmere St Andrew, near Ipswich, England in 1840 and was articled to Henry Woolnough (1820-1862) in Ipswich from 1856 to 1860. He then taught at at Ipswich School of Science and Art from 1860 to 1862. In 1863 worked as an assistant to the Ipswich Borough Surveyor and from 1864 was employed as an assistant in the office of Joseph Rotherham Cattermole (1820-1900). In 1866 he formed a partnership with Cattermole as Cattermole & Eade. The partnership was dissolved in 1877 following which Eade worked alone until 1889 when he formed a new partnership with Edwin Thomas Johns (1862-1947) as Eade & Johns. The partnership with Johns may have have been dissolved in 1912 when Eade retired. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1881.
In addition to his work as an architect. Eade was also a garden designer and painter. In c.1885 he designed the gardens at Bawdsey Manor, near Woodbridge. He was a member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1887 to 1915 and occasionally exhibited with them.
Eade added Cotman to his name following his marriage to Margaretta Wright Cotman (1842-1925) in 1868. In emigrated to Canada in c.1891 and settled in Winnipeg. By 1905 he had returned to England.
His address was given as 58 Carr Street, Ipswich from 1868 to 1881; 95 London Road, Ipswich in 1871; Cornhill Chambers, Thorofare, Ipswich in 1905 and 1911; and 112 London Road, Ipswich in 1927. He died at this address on 27 November 1927.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 35, 1928 p. 168