In 1707 he published in Welsh ‘The Principles of the Christian Religion,’ based apparently on the assembly's catechism; in 1714 he published and wrote a preface for ‘Gemmeu Doethineb’ (‘Gems of Wisdom’), a very interesting work by his old tutor, R. Prytherch; in 1717 he wrote a long preface to his friend and neighbour Iago ab Dewi's translation of Matthew Henry's ‘Catechism;’ in 1757 Abel Morgan published Evans's ‘Principles of the Christian Religion,’ which he had adapted so as to teach adult baptism.
[Dr. Thomas Rees's Hist. of Carmarthen College, in Dr. Beard's Unit. in its Actual Condition; Rowlands's Cambrian Bibliography.]
EVANS, WILLIAM (d. 1776?), Welsh lexicographer, was educated at Carmarthen College under Dr. Jenkins, 1767–72. He was probably born in Carmarthenshire. His chief claim to notice is based on his English-Welsh dictionary, compiled while he was a student and published in 1771. A second edition appeared in 1812. The greatest living Welsh bibliographer, the Rev. D. S. Evans, B.D., describes it as a very respectable work. He was for some years pastor of the presbyterian congregation at Sherborne, but removed, owing to declining health, to take charge of a congregation at Moreton Hampstead, Devonshire, in 1776, but was only able to retain it a few weeks, and probably died shortly after.
[Christian Reformer, 1833, p. 552, 1847, p. 631; Yr Ymofynydd, 1888.]
EVANS, WILLIAM (1811?–1858), landscape-painter, usually known as ‘Evans of Bristol,’ in order to distinguish him from William Evans of Eton [q. v.], was an associate member of the Old Society of Painters in Water-colours, and a native of North Wales. Wishing to perfect his art by the study of nature alone, and to free himself from the influence of schools or individuals, Evans made himself a home for many years in the centre of a grand gorge of mountain scenery in North Wales, at a farm called Tyn-y-Car, in a large park at the junction of the Deddr with the Conway. Here he was able to cultivate a natural impulse for originality and grandeur in the constant contemplation of nature in some of its wildest forms, and he produced some fine works, notably ‘Traeth Mawr;’ his treatment of the mountain torrents and the cottage scenery of the neighbourhood was also remarkable. After 1852 Evans visited Italy, spending the winter successively at Genoa, Rome, and Naples, and he collected numerous materials for working up into landscapes of a very different character from his earlier productions. Unfortunately his work was cut short by illness, and he died in Marylebone Road, London, 7 Dec. 1858, aged forty-nine, according to some accounts, though he is usually stated to have been born in 1811. There is a fine water-colour drawing by him in the print room at the British Museum.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Ottley's Dict. of Recent and Living Painters; Bryan's Dict. of Painters and Engravers, ed. R. E. Graves; Gent. Mag. (1859) 3rd ser. vi. 105.]
EVANS, WILLIAM (1798–1877), water-colour painter, born at Eton on 4 Dec. 1798, was son of Samuel Evans, a landscape-painter of repute, who originally lived in Flintshire, but subsequently came from Wales and settled at Windsor. Here he was selected to teach drawing to the daughters of George III, and eventually became drawing-master at Eton College, where he settled. There are some views of North Wales and Windsor by him which have been engraved. He left Eton about 1818 for Droxford, Hampshire, where he died about 1835.
William Evans was appointed by Dr. Keate drawing-master in his father's place in 1818. He was educated at Eton, and had originally studied medicine, but eventually turned to art, and became a pupil of William Collins, R.A. [q. v.] He was elected an associate of the Old Society of Painters in Water-colours on 11 Feb. 1828, in which year he exhibited drawings of Windsor, Eton, Thames fishermen, Barmouth, and Llanberis, and on 7 June 1830 he was elected a member of the society. He continued to be a constant contributor to their exhibitions. His art was not marked by any great originality, but had much vigour and brilliance about it. He made some large drawings of the Eton ‘Montem,’ which were engraved, and are now in the possession of Lord Braybrooke. Evans continued to teach drawing at Eton until 1837, when his wife died, and he made up his mind to move to London. At that time the oppidans at Eton still continued to be lodged in houses kept by ladies, known as ‘dames,’ a system which was in great need of reform, and which placed the boys under little or no control. It being Dr. Hawtrey's wish to place the boarding-houses under the charge of men connected with the work of the school, the Rev. Thomas Carter, the Rev. Edward Coleridge, and the Rev. George Selwyn (afterwards bishop of New Zealand) persuaded Evans to take one of these houses and retain his former position as drawing-master. This Evans did in 1840, working with great energy. He built the house, the name of which still continues to
