John Evans (2 September 1702 – March 1782) was a Welsh

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

cleric, known for his attacks upon

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

Life

Evans was born in Meidrym, Carmarthenshire, south Wales on 2 September 1702. He studied at the grammar school in Carmarthen and at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

from Jesus College in 1722. He was ordained and appointed to the parish of Eglwys Cymyn, Carmarthenshire although he only visited the parish for a few weeks each year in the summer, and employed

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

s to minister in the parish whilst he lived in London. He was appointed Reading Chaplain of the Chapel Royal, Whitehall in 1742 and preached the

St David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebr ...

sermon to the Society of Ancient Britons in 1750; the sermon was later published. He was a founder member and council member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion when it was established in 1751. He was buried at Eglwys Cymyn on 14 March 1782. Evans was inspired by Bishop Edmund Gibson to attack

, publishing a hostile pamphlet against Griffith Jones in 1749 and a further attack in ''Some Account of the Welch Charity Schools (etc)'' in 1752. The attacks did little to harm the position of Griffith Jones and more to hurt the reputation of Evans himself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, John 1702 births 1782 deaths 18th-century Welsh writers 18th-century British male writers Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford 18th-century Welsh Anglican priests