he was chr. in
Llandygwydd church, Cards.
,
21 Feb. 1693
, son of
Charles
Evans
of
Pen-y-wenallt
, near
Newcastle Emlyn
, by his second wife, and grandson of
Evan Griffith
Evans
— the ‘
Captain Tory
’ of
Charles
I
's army. It is not known where he was educated. There is no record of him at
Shrewsbury school
nor is there any certainty that he attended the grammar school at
Carmarthen
. It is doubtful whether he ever went to a university, for in
1714-16
he was at home and at
Shrewsbury
,
preparing books for the press
. He was ordained
deacon
,
14 Aug. 1717
, and
priest
,
9 Nov. 1718
, by the
bishop of S. Davids
, and became
curate
of
Llanlleonfel
, and afterwards (under
Moses
Williams
, q.v.)
of
Devynnock
, both in
Brecknock
. On
14 Aug. 1722
he was made
vicar
of
Llandyfrïog
, near
Newcastle Emlyn
. In
1728
he resigned and was made
rector
of
Llanynys cum Llanddulas
,
Brecknock
. In
1738
he resigned and was given the living of
Llangamarch
,
Brecknock
, which was joined with
Llanwrtyd
and
Abergwesyn
. About the same time he was made
domestic chaplain
to
Marmaduke
Gwynne
of
Garth
(see under
Gwynne
of
Garth
). In
1739
Llanfaes
,
Brecon
, was added to his other livings. In
1763
he made over
Llangamarch
to his son-in-law
Hugh
Jones
(father of
Theophilus
Jones
, q.v.)
, but he held
Llanfaes
until his death,
11 Sept. 1767
. He was buried in
Llangamarch
churchyard. The
hymnist
William
Williams
of
Pantycelyn
was appointed his
curate
in
1740
but, as
Theophilus
Evans
refused to recommend him for ordination as
priest
, he left in
1743
.
He m.
1728
,
Alice
, daughter of
Morgan
Bevan
of
Gelligaled, Glam.
, and they had five children, three sons and two daughters [see under
Pritchett
].
Theophilus
Evans
is said to have been the means of discovering the properties of the water at
Llanwrtyd Wells
by drinking it when everybody said it was poisonous, and thus curing himself of
scurvy
.
He
published a number of books on history and religion
. Two prime objects are to be found in all his work — the glorification of the nobility and antiquity of the
Welsh
nation and the upholding of the
Church of England
form of
Protestanism
as the true Christian religion. His
most celebrated works are
Drych y Prif Oesoedd
,
1716
, 2nd ed.
1740
(many subsequent editions), a prejudiced and uncritical but very entertaining version of the early history of
Wales
, and
A History of Modern Enthusiasm
,
1752
, 2nd ed.
1757
, where he seeks to prove that all who turn their backs on the
Church of England
are secret
Papists
. Because of its lively style and its wealth of incisive phrases and striking metaphors, the
Drych
is regarded as one of the classics of
Welsh
prose.
