Robert Wilson Evans (30 August 1789 – 10 March 1866) was an English cleric and author,

Archdeacon of Westmorland The Archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Carlisle. As such he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its four rural deaneries: Barrow, Windermere, K ...

from 1856 until the year before his death a decade later.

Life

Evans was born at the Council House,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, the second son of John Evans, M.D., of Llwynygroes, near

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

, by his wife, Jane Wilson. He was educated under Samuel Butler at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

, and proceeded to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1807. There he became seventh wrangler, second chancellor's medallist, and B.A. 1811, M.A. 1814, and B.D. 1842. Having obtained a Trinity fellowship in 1813, he was elected classical tutor of the college in the following year, having

George Peacock George Peacock FRS (9 April 1791 – 8 November 1858) was an English mathematician and Anglican cleric. He founded what has been called the British algebra of logic. Early life Peacock was born on 9 April 1791 at Thornton Hall, Denton, nea ...

, afterwards

Dean of Ely The position of Dean of Ely Cathedral, in East Anglia, England, in the Diocese of Ely was created in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The first Dean of Ely had been the last Benedictine prior of Ely. List of deans Early modern ...

, as his colleague. In 1836 his former headmaster Samuel Butler, then

bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

, made him his examining chaplain, and collated him to the vicarage of

Tarvin Tarvin is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 2,693 people at the 2001 UK census, rising to 2,728 at the 2011 Census, and the ward covers about . ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Here he found parish work in abundance, the experience of which is given in his ''Bishopric of Souls''. Trinity College had the right to nominate a candidate to the benefice of

Heversham Heversham is a small village and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 647, increasing at the 2011 census to 699. It is situated above the marshes of the Kent estua ...

(then in Westmorland, now in Cumbria). Evans became vicar there in 1842. One of his first acts was to build a new vicarage house on the shoulders of Heversham Head, a spot from which he commanded a most extensive view. He was appointed Archdeacon of Westmorland in 1856, resigning the position in January 1865 because of his age. He died at Heversham vicarage 10 March 1866 aged 76.

Works

Evans was the author of: * ''A Course of Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge'', 1830. * ''The Rectory of Valehead'', 1830; 12th edition 1842. * ''The Church of God, in a series of Sermons'', 1832. * ''A Sermon at the Consecration of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry'', 1836. * ''A Sermon at the Ordination held by the Bishop of Lichfield'', 1838. * ''Hymns for the Christian Workman'', 1840. * ''Tales of the Ancient British Church'', 1840; 3rd edition 1859. * ''An Appeal against the Union of the Dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph'', 1842. * ''The Bishopric of Souls'', 1842; 5th edition 1877. * ''A Sermon'', 1842. * ''A Day in the Sanctuary, with a Treatise on Hymnology'', 1843. * ''Parochial Sermons'', 3 volumes, 1844–55. * ''Consideration on the Scriptural Practice of Church Collections'', 1847. * ''The Ministry of the Body'', 1847. * ''A Visitation Sermon'', 1849. * ''Parochial Sketches'', in verse, 1850. * ''A Treatise on Versification'', 1852. * ''An Exhortation to the Lord's Day'', 1853. * ''Charges delivered to the Clergy of Westmoreland'', 2 vols., 1856, 1857. * ''Self-Examination and Proof'', a sermon, 1856. * ''Daily Hymns'', 1860. * ''England under God'', 1862. * ''A Sermon on Death of the Prince Consort'', 1862. He also wrote five volumes in ''

Rivington's Theological Library ''Rivington's Theological Library'' was a series of 15 volumes, edited by William Rowe Lyall and Hugh James Rose, and published in London during the 1830s by Rivington's. Rose as founder intended "to restore in England the tradition of the primiti ...

'': vols. vii. xii. and xvi., ''Scripture Biography'', 1834, and vols. xiv. and xv., ''Biography of the Early Church'', 1836.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Robert Wilson 1789 births 1866 deaths Writers from Shrewsbury People from Heversham People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English religious writers Archdeacons of Westmorland 19th-century English Anglican priests Clergy from Shrewsbury