Eton College's former headmaster gets his name back

A famous Eton College head who birched discipline back into the school 200 years ago is about to have his 'good name' restored.

John Keate was headmaster from 1809 to 1834, famously using birching to restore order after a notoriously undisciplined period at the school.

Keate's Lane which links Eton High Street with Eton Wick Road alongside the college is named after him. But for decades the road sign has been wrongly spelt as Keats Lane - an error that was repeated when it was recently replaced.

Now Royal Borough councillor George Fussey (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) has made it his business to correct the mistake. At a meeting of Eton Town Council last night, members gave their wholehearted agreement to his request for permission to change the name of the road - so that a new sign could have the proper spelling of Keate's name.

John Keate was born at Wells, Somerset and was the son of a rector. He was made a canon of Windsor in 1820 as well as being head of Eton for 25 years. He died at Hartley Westpall, Hampshire, where he had been rector since 1824.