John William EVANS FRS, CBE

John William EVANS

27th Jul 18571,2 - 16th Nov 193010,1

Geologist, lecture and research11

Life History

27th Jul 1857	Born in Barbican, London (2 Beech Street, Barbican, London).1,2
16th Sep 1857	Baptised in St Giles, Cripplegate.3
7th Apr 1861	Recorded in census in Islington, London (1 Richmond Villas, Seven Sisters, Road, Islington, London).4
2nd Apr 1871	Recorded in census in St Marylebone, London (62 Acacia Road, St Marylebone, London).5
between 1874 and 1877	Occupation commissioned officer in the 1st London Royal Engineers (Volunteers).2
1874	Occupation soldier in the Honourable Artillery Company.2
about 1877	Educated University College School; University College.2
1878	Occupation Equity Draftsman and Conveyancer in Lincoln's Inn.6,7,2 Called to the bar 1878
3rd Apr 1881	Occupation barrister in Bloomsbury, London.8
3rd Apr 1881	Recorded in census in Bloomsbury, London (12 Montague Place, St George Bloomsbury, London, England).8
between Jul 1882 and Sep 1882	Married Emily Alice Mary READ in St John's Church, Hampstead.2 Ref 1a 1290
between Jul 1883 and Sep 1883	Death of Emily Alice Mary READ in Bromley.2
5th Apr 1891	Occupation barrister in Paddington, London.9
5th Apr 1891	Recorded in census in Paddington, London (24 Tavistock Road).9
about 1892	Educated Royal College of Science.7,1 became D.Sc. (London)
about 1896	Occupation soldier in the 1st Batallion Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Volunteers and the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers..2
14th Jan 1896	Resident in India.2
1901	Occupation geologist FRS, CBE
1901	Recorded in census in Lambeth (56 Wolfington Road Lambeth) a widower with brother Charles H Evans
between Apr 1901 and Jun 1901	Married Jessie Downie GRANGER in Wandsworth.12
before 1904	Occupation State Geologist in the Indian states of Kathiawar and Mysore www.geolsoc.org.uk
1905	Retired.2
about 1910	Birth of daughter Janet EVANS
about 1910	Birth of daughter Christina EVANS in London, Middlesex.11
2nd Apr 1911	Occupation Geologist, lecture and research in Harlesden, Middlesex.11
2nd Apr 1911	Recorded in census in Harlesden, Middlesex (75 Craven Park Road, Harlesden, Willesden, Middlesex).11
1914	Occupation demonstrator in the geology department of Imperial College.7
from 1924 to 1926	Occupation President of The Geological Society www.geolsoc.org.uk
1927	Occupation geologist travelling in Sinai for the Geophysical Company www.geolsoc.org.uk
before 1930	Resident in 75 Craven Park Road, London.2
16th Nov 1930	Died in London.10,1 Obituary Notices, Nature 24 Jan 1931, Jnl Geol. Soc. 29 May 1931

Notes

The traveller

John explored and studied the geology in Bolivia, Brazil, India and Sinai.

.7
On 26 June 1901 Dr John William Evans left Southampton on a two year trip to explore a region of in north-east Bolivia. As well as a civil engineer / surveyor and a botanist he was accompanied by his younger cousin, John Turle. John was a student at Redruth College in Cornwall studying mining.

The report of their trip, Expedition to Caupolican Bolivia 1901-1902 by Dr John William Evans, was published inThe Geographical Journal, No 6, Vol. XXII, December 1903 and read at the Geographical Society on June22,1903.

Expedition to Caupolican Bolivia, 1901-1902
John William Evans
The Geographical Journal, Vol. 22, No. 6 (Dec., 1903), pp. 601-642 (article consists of 48 pages)
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

.
The teacher

According to Cherry Lewis in her book "The Dating Game" John was an archetypal eccentric and absent-minded professor. He wore an overcoat with turned up collar, a woollen scarf and a black Homburg hat when he was lecturing. He spent hours looking for mislaid object and always carried foreign language dictionaries and grammar books around with him. Professor P G H Boswell described John as closer to a genius than any other geologer he had ever met.

John was a supporter of the continental drift theories and the work of Wegener which he read in the original German. John wrote the foreword for the English translation of this work.

.7
The writer

The Determination of Minerals under the Microscope, with special reference to the interpretation of interference phenomena by John William Evans (Hardcover - 1928)

Handbook of the Geology of Great Britain. A compilative work. Edited by J. W. Evans ... and C. J. Stubblefield. With bibliographies, maps, and tables by John William Evans and Cyril James Stubblefield (Unknown Binding - 1929)

Elementary Crystallography by John William Evans and George MacDonald Davies (Unknown Binding - 1924)

Expedition To Caupolican Bolivia, 1901-1902 by Evans. John William (Paperback - 1903)

P117 Geology of Caithness, printed matter by John William Evans and R N Donovan 1891-1974 (http://www.caithness.org/community/museums/nha/indexes/plist.htm)

The Geology of the Matto Grosso

The Rocks of the Madeira Cataract

.
Military

School of Instruction at Wellington Barracks for Infantry Officers - passed with special mention

School of Military Engineering at Chatham - with special mention in explosives and special mention in Tactics in the Army examination in that field

At the outbreak of World War I John was appointed Organizing Officer of the Willesden Battalion of the National Reserve and trained men in the new drill.

Command of the Volunteer Reserve and afterwards of the Willesden Battalion of the middlesex Volunteer Regiment.

Commandant of the North West District

Sub-Commandant of the Camp and Superintending Emergency Engineer on the London Defences.

.2

Sources

1. National Library of Wales: Dictionary of Welsh Boigraphy
- http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/index.html
2. Research of Frances Hartman
3. IGI
4. 1861 Census
- Ancestry - transcript Sarle; 1837online transcript Tarle
5. UK Census 1871
6. Ancestry World Tree
7. The Dating Game
- ISBN 0 521 79051 4
8. UK Census 1881
9. UK Census 1891
10. Ancestry World Tree
11. UK Census 1911
12. FreeBMD
- 1d 1008