DAVIES, EVAN (1826-1872), educationist;
b. 26 June 1826 at Gelli, Llan-y-crwys, Carms., son of Timothy Davies, educated at Ffrwd-y-fâl by William Davies (1805-1859) (q.v.), and afterwards at Bristol, was destined for the Independent ministry and in 1842 was Dr. Williams scholar at Glasgow, where he graduated (much later, in 1858, he took his LL.D.). His college career coincided with the inception of the Nonconformist ‘Voluntary’ school movement in South Wales, led by David Rees (1801-1869) (q.v.), of Llanelly; and the supporters of that movement, at a series of conferences held in 1845, decided to set up a training college for teachers at Brecon (1846), of which Evan Davies (after a period of training at Borough Road) was appointed principal. In 1849 the college was removed to Swansea, but the collapse of the Voluntaryist movement and the resulting financial stringency brought it for the time being to an end (1851)-in later years, it was to become the Swansea Training College for women teachers. Davies continued the institution as a private venture school till 1867, when he handed it over to Dan Isaac Davies (q.v.) and turned to the law, eventually becoming partner in a legal firm. He was also a musician of some note. He d. 22 Aug. 1872.
Bibliography:
- Y Diwygiwr, 1872, 286, and
- Y Cerddor, July 1893, for dates of birth and death;
- the Welsh periodicals from 1849 to 1851 provide material for the history of the Voluntaryist movement.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
