The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography

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EVANS , a family of printers at Machynlleth , Barmouth , and Carmarthen .

TITUS EVANS ( fl. 1760-1800 ) was living at Machynlleth some years before he started printing there c. 1789 ; e.g. his name appears in the imprint to John Prys 's Welsh almanack, 1778 (for 1779 ), as a seller of that publication in Machynlleth . He was an excise officer and, to judge by information given by Ifano Jones ( Hist. of Printing and Printers in Wales ), a man of some consequence locally. His wife, Ellinor (or Ellen ), daughter of John Jones , Esgair Evan , Llanbryn-mair , d. 6 April 1793 . It used to be said that he emigrated to America in 1793 , after he had lost his wife and his government post; he was, however, at Machynlleth in Nov. of that year and stayed there until the end of the year or the beginning of 1794 . In the latter year he printed ballads at Barmouth . Ifano Jones shows also that although his name appears on the title of no. 3 of Cylchgrawn Cymraeg , Aug. 1793 , as the printer of that periodical, the actual printing was done at Carmarthen by John Daniel (q.v.) and John Ross (q.v.) .

JOHN EVANS (d. 1830 ), son of Titus Evans , started to print at Carmarthen in 1795 . He was a craftsman and, in that respect, very different from his father, who had not been trained as a printer . There was some measure of competition between John Evans and his neighbour John Daniel . Both printed Bibles — John Evans , e.g., being responsible for printing four editions of the ‘ Peter Williams ’ Bible .’ In 1825 on the death of Joseph Harris ( Gomer , q.v.) John Evans acquired the printing and publishing rights of Seren Gomer . He also became owner and publisher of the Carmarthen Journal . He d. 25 May 1830 , aged 55. His widow survived until 19 Jan. 1850 .

John Evans had three sons who became printers at Carmarthen — DAVID , JOHN , and WILLIAM .

David Evans , the eldest son of John Evans , became the owner and publisher of the Carmarthen Journal in 1820 , and continued to print that weekly newspaper up to the number for 18 July 1823 . The succeeding number was published by his brother John Evans , who d. 7 Jan. 1840 , aged 42. He had previously, in 1832 , transferred the Journal to his brother William Evans (d. 1847 ), who continued to publish it until 9 July 1844 . Like his father, the youngest son printed Seren Gomer also for a time.

Bibliography:

Ifano Jones , A history of printing and printers in Wales to 1810, and of successive and related printers to 1923. , 1925 .

Author:

Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952), Aberystwyth