Life

He was born at Usk

Usk

Usk is a small town in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated 10 miles northeast of Newport.The River Usk flows through the town and is spanned by an ancient, arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. A castle above the town overlooks the ancient Anglo-Welsh border crossing - the river can...

 in Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

, 2 October 1767. After schooling in Bristol he became a student in November 1783 in the Baptist academy there, where his relative Dr. Caleb Evans was theological tutor. During part of the time Robert Hall was his classical tutor. In 1787 he matriculated at King's College, Aberdeen

King's College, Aberdeen

King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...

, and went in 1790 to the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

. Having taken the degree of M.A. he returned in June 1791 to England.

In that year Evans year accepted an invitation from the morning congregation of General Baptists in Worship Street, London, where, after officiating a few months, he was chosen pastor and ordained 31 May 1792. He was there for 35 years. Two years later he opened a school, first at Hoxton Square

Hoxton Square

Hoxton Square is a garden square situated in Hoxton in the London Borough of Hackney, in London's East End. Formerly home to industrial premises, since the 1990s it has become the heart of the Hoxton arts and media scene, as well as being a hub of the thriving local entertainment district...

 and subsequently at 7 Pullin's Row, Islington, which he taught with success for about thirty years. In 1803 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries; he withdrew in 1825.

In 1815 he began to lose the use of his limbs. In 1819 he received the degree of LL.D. from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, and in the same year he issued his ‘Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. William Richards, LL.D., of Lynn … with some account of the Rev. Roger Williams, founder of the State of Rhode Island,’ London, 1819. In 1825 he resigned his school, having 6 December 1821 lost his third son, Caleb, who had been his intended successor. Although he needed to be carried to the pulpit, he continued to preach until a few weeks before his death at Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

, 25 January 1827.

A portrait of Evans, by Woodman, accompanies his ‘Tracts, Sermons, and Funeral Orations, published between 1795 and 1825, and six new Discourses,’ London, 1826.

Works

Immediately on his assuming the office of pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 Evans published ‘An Address humbly designed to promote the Revival of Religion, more especially among the General Baptists,’ London, 1793. Evans's writings in the end amounted to some forty in number: sermons, tracts, prefaces, biographical and topographical notices, and schoolbooks.

The ‘Sketch of the Denominations of the Christian World’ first appeared in the beginning of 1795 in the form of a shilling pamphlet, London. Its rapid sale called for a second edition in July of the same year, and during a period of about thirty years fourteen successive editions were circulated; a fifteenth edition had been completed by the author immediately before his last illness. The book was translated into Welsh, Merthyr Tydfil, 1808, and into various European languages, while several editions were issued in America, the first having appeared at Boston, 1807. In his dedication of the fourteenth edition to Lord Erskine, Evans stated that although a hundred thousand copies had then been sold, he had parted with the copyright for £10, but he consoled himself by reflecting that the popularity of the book was due to its impartiality. A sequel to the ‘Sketch’ was ‘A Preservative against the Infidelity and Uncharitableness of the Eighteenth Century; or, Testimonies in behalf of Christian Candour and Unanimity, by Divines of the Church of England, of the Kirk of Scotland, and among the Protestant Dissenters’ (an essay on the right of private judgment prefixed), 1796; 3rd edit., ‘The Golden Centenary,’ London, 1806.

Other works are:

• ‘An Attempt to account for the Infidelity of the late Mr. Gibbon, founded on his own Memoirs. … Including an Account of the Conversion and Death of the Right Hon. George, Lord Lyttelton,’ London [1797].
• ‘An Essay on the Education of Youth,’ London, 1798; 2nd edit., 12mo, London [1799].
• ‘The Juvenile Tourist; or, Excursions through various parts of Great Britain, illustrated with Maps, … In a series of Letters,’ &c. London, 1804.
• ‘Picture of Worthing,’ 1805; 2nd edit., 2 vols., Worthing, 1814.
• ‘General Redemption the only proper Basis of General Benevolence; a Letter to Robert Hawker, D.D.,’ London, 1809; 2nd edit., ‘with animadversions on the “Eclectic Review,”’ London [1809].
• ‘Complete Religious Liberty Vindicated;’ on the petition for the abolition of all penal statutes of the dissenting ministers of London and Westminster, Feb. 2, 1813, London, 1813; 2nd edit. in the same year.
• ‘An Excursion to Windsor;’ to which is added, ‘A Journal of a Trip to Paris, by his son, John Evans, jun., M.A.,’ London.
• ‘The Christianity of the New Testament Impregnable and Imperishable; an Address occasioned by the trial of R. Carlile,’ London, 1819. On Richard Carlile
  Richard Carlile
  Richard Carlile was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom.-Early life :...
  
  .
• ‘Recreation for the Young and Old. An Excursion to Brighton, … a Visit to Tunbridge Wells, and a Trip to Southend. In a series of Letters,’ &c., Chiswick, 1821.
• ‘Richmond and its Vicinity; with a Glance at Twickenham, Strawberry Hill, and Hampton Court,’ Richmond, 1824; 2nd edit. Richmond, 1825.

Family

In August 1795 he married Mary, daughter of John Wiche, for nearly half a century General Baptist minister at Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

. Three sons survived him. John Evans, the son, graduated M.A. at Edinburgh, and wrote besides the ‘Journal’ (see No. 7 above) papers in the Philosophical Magazine

Philosophical Magazine

The Philosophical Magazine is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. Initiated by Alexander Tilloch in 1798, in 1822 Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since; it was the journal of choice for such luminaries as...

on guiding balloons through the atmosphere (xlvi. 321–7), on aerial navigation (xlvii. 429–31), and on a method of naming roots of cubes under ten figures (li. 443–4).