EVANS, a family of printers at Machynlleth, Barmouth, and Carmarthen
TITUS EVANS (fl. 1760-1800), printer
Titus Evans 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, died 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 November 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, August 1793, as the printer of that periodical, the actual printing was done at Carmarthen by John Daniel and John Ross.
JOHN EVANS (died 1830), printer
Son of Titus Evans. He 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) John Evans acquired the printing and publishing rights of Seren Gomer . He also became owner and publisher of the Carmarthen Journal. He died 25 May 1830, aged 55. His widow survived until 19 January 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 died 7 January 1840, aged 42. He had previously, in 1832, transferred the Journal to his brother William Evans (died 1847), who continued to publish it until 9 July 1844. Like his father, the youngest son printed Seren Gomer also for a time.
Author
- Sir William Llewelyn Davies, (1887 - 1952)
Sources
- Ifano Jones, A history of printing and printers in Wales to 1810, and of successive and related printers to 1923 (Cardiff 1925)
- Wikidata: Q20738064
- Wikidata: Q28361852
- Wikidata: Q28361975
- Wikidata: Q29962584
- Wikidata: Q29965046
- Wikidata: Q29966251
Dolenni Ychwanegol
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/
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