EVANS
,
JOHN VICTOR
(
1895
-
1957
),
barrister-at-law
;
b.
7 October 1895
at
Cwmdare
,
Aberdare, Glam.
, son of
Henry Howard
Evans
,
general manager
of the
Cambrian Collieries
in
Mid-Rhondda
, a prominent
Baptist layman
and
Mary Ann
Evans
, his wife, who died shortly after her son was born. He was educated at the local elementary school in
Cwmdare
and at
Christ College
,
Brecon
. There followed war service in
Egypt
,
France
and
Palestine
, and after
World War I
he went to
St. John's College
,
Oxford
, where he read History and took a second-class honours degree in
1922
. At
Oxford
he played a distinguished part in the
Union Debating Society
, being elected successively
Secretary
,
Junior Librarian
and in
1922
President of the Union
; he was also
President
of the
Dafydd ap Gwilym Society
. After leaving
Oxford
he was
called to the bar
in
1924
. He was an accomplished
orator
and in the general election of
1929
he contested
Pontypridd
as a
Liberal
, polling 37% of the vote and coming second to
T.I. Mardy
Jones
in a three-cornered contest. He again entered the lists as the
Liberal candidate
in the
Merthyr Tydfil
by-election of
1934
, coming second to
S.O.
Davies
in a four-cornered contest, again polling a respectable vote of over 10,000. In
1930
he was appointed a
lecturer in law
at the
University College of Wales
,
Aberystwyth
, but resigned in
1935
to resume his bar practice. A man of deep religious convictions with a tender social conscience, he felt the urge to do something to alleviate the suffering of the unemployed in
south Wales
and accepted in
1936
the post of
warden
of the
Aberdare Education Settlement
,
Coleg Gwerin Cynon
, set up by the
Council of Social Service
. He had married in
April 1927
Katherine Mary
, daughter of the
Rev.
Henry
Dawson
of
Streatham
. Their only child,
John
, died suddenly in
1938
.
Evans
had been very happy in his work at
Aberdare
but the loss of his son proved a shattering blow. In
1939
he resigned his post at the
Settlement
and returned to
London
. In the meantime
World War II
supervened and he took a post in the
Ministry of Economic Warfare
. In peace time he remained in the
Civil Service
and ended his career in the
Ministry of Supply
. He d. in his home in
Dulwich Village
15 May 1957
.
That he did not in many respects fulfil his early promise may be attributed in large measure to his greatly impaired health as a result of his sufferings in
World War I
. He overtaxed his strength by attempting to achieve at the bar and in politics more than his enfeebled constitution could stand.
Bibliography:
-
B. B. Thomas
,
Y Ddinas
,
July 1957
;
-
Aberdare Leader
,
8 Feb. 1936
;
-
The Biographical Index of W.W. Price,
Aberdâr
(at the National Library of Wales and Aberdare
Public Library)
.
Author:
Walter Thomas Morgan (1912-90), Aberystwyth
