He was born in Haarlem, where he became general secretary-treasurer of the Dutch Society for the Promotion of Industry and director of the Museum of Applied Arts.

[1] F. W. van Eeden was probably the first to use the concept (not the word) natural monument (in his book Onkruid).

In this book, he suggested the idea of preserving some parts of the Netherlands as a monument to nature.

[2] In 1877, Van Eeden completed the 15th and final volume of the standard work Flora Batava, which was started in 1800.

[1] In addition, he made many contributions to the Nederlandsch Kruidkundig Archief (Dutch Herbal Archive), the Album der Natuur (Album of Nature), and the Tijdschrift der Nederlandsche Maatschappij (Journal of the Dutch Society of Industry).