Sir John Evans Centenary Project (Ashmolean Museum)

Sir John Evans's Family Life - In Remembrance

Page
1 | 2 | 3 | 4

St Lawrence's Church, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire (2006)

The Evans's Family Grave at St Lawrence's Church, Abbots Langley

John Evans died on 31 May 1908.

St. Lawrence's church at Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire is the location of the Evans's burial plot. It is tucked away by the north-east corner of the church.

The grave contains Sir John Evans, his first wife, Harriet, who died in 1858, his second wife, Frances, who died in 1890, and his son Arthur, who died in 1941. The inscription on the grave is badly erroded and now hard to read. Arthur Evans's wife, Margaret, was not buried in the grave as she was buried at Alassio in Italy. She had been taken ill whilst they were on holiday and died very suddenly.

Alice Minet (nee Evans), John Evans's daughter, is buried in a separate grave in the same churchyard.

Sir John Evans Memorial, St Lawrence's Church, Abbots Langley

The memorial to Sir John Evans is situated high up on the south wall of the St Lawrence's Church, Abbots Langley. It is engraved on brown marble and contains a very long description of his life. However because of the brown marble and its situation, it is very hard to read. This monument was designed by Sir William Richmond and the shields depict elephants and a lion (from the Dickinson family). The monument includes John Evans's motto 'I desire to deserve'.

John Evans was highly respected within his many different fields of interest. After his death many of the learned societies to which he belonged published obituaries comemorating his life and work. Local and national papers also published extensive obituaries. The John Evans archive contains copies of a number of these obituaries. A few of which are available on this web page (see below).

Photograph of graveside service for the centenary of Evans's death (by kind permission of M Stanyon)

Centenary of John Evans's Death 31 May 2008
(courtesy of M. Stanyon)

To mark the centenary of John Evans's death on 31 May 2008, the Revd. Dr. Jo Spreadbury, with representatives from the Apsley Paper Trail, the Ashmolean Museum, Friends of Dacorum Museum and the Society of Antiquaries, attended a short graveside ceremony where they laid flowers. Flowers on behalf of the Evans family and Berkhamsted and District Archaeological Society were also laid.

Click on images to see larger versions
Obituary from the Papermaker's Association (Top of Page / Bottom of Page)	Obituary from the Civil Service Gazette	Obituary from the Royal Society	Obituary from the West Hertfordshire Gazette	Obituary from the Hertfordshire Mercury (Top of Page / Bottom of Page)

Further References / Links:

Joan Evans, Time and Chance: The Story of Arthur Evans and His Forebears (1943)

Joan Evans, Prelude and Fugue (1964)

Joan Evans, The Endless Web; John Dickinson and Co. Ltd., 1804-1954 (1955)

See also the essays in Sir John Evans 1823-1908, edited by Arthur MacGregor (2008)

The John Evans archive holds both family letters and diaries

The Apsley Paper Trail has details of Evans's paper manufacturing interests