Abel Evans (1675–1737) was an English clergyman, academic, and poet, a self-conscious follower of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

Life

He was son of Abel Evans of London, baptised on 26 February 1675. He entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1685. He was elected probationary fellow of

St. John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

(1692), proceeded regularly to the degrees of B.A. (1696), M.A. (1699), B.D. (1705), D.D. (1711). He entered holy orders in 1700, and held successively the incumbencies of

Kirtlington Kirtlington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about west of Bicester. The parish includes the hamlet of Northbrook. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 988. The parish measures nearly north–south and about east� ...

, St. Giles, Oxford, and

Great Staughton Great Staughton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Great Staughton lies approximately south-west of Huntingdon. Great Staughton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan dis ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

. For a short, time also he was chaplain to his college. He was removed, according to Thomas Hearne, because, in a speech made publicly in the hall of St. John's, he reflected upon

William Delaune William Delaune D.D. (14 April 1659 – 23 May 1728) was an English clergyman and academic, President of St John's College, Oxford, and chaplain to Queen Anne. Life Delaune was son of Benjamin Delaune of London, England, by Margaret, daughter ...

, the President, and most of the Fellows. The Duchess of Marlborough supported him, and he was reinstated in his office. Evans was presented by his college in 1725 to the rectory of

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to tw ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and died there 18 October 1737.

Works

Turning on former friends, he published (1710) a poem entitled ''The Apparition; a dialogue betwixt the Devil and a Doctor concerning the rights of the Christian Church'', in which

Matthew Tindal Matthew Tindal (1657 – 16 August 1733) was an eminent England, English deism, deist author. His works, highly influential at the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment, caused great controversy and challenged the Christians, Christian ...

and

White Kennett White Kennett (10 August 166019 December 1728) was an English bishop and antiquarian. He was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where, while an undergraduate, he published several translations of Latin works, including ...

were roughly handled. In 1713 Evans published a poetical epistle to the botanist

Jacob Bobart the Younger Jacob Bobart, the younger, (2 August 1641 – 28 December 1719), was an English botanist. Background Bobart was the younger son of Jacob Bobart. He was born at Oxford, and succeeded his father as superintendent of the Physic Garden, and on the ...

, entitled ''Vertumnus''. ''Præ-existence'' (1714) was in Milton's style.

References

External links

Abel Evans
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
;Attribution * 1675 births 1737 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of St John's College, Oxford English male poets {{England-poet-stub