Sir (Thomas) William Evans, 1st Baronet (15 April 1821 – 4 October 1892) was an English

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician who represented the constituency of

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the local authority at the 2011 Census was 94,611. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote. The district ...

Background and education

Evans was the son of William Evans of Allestree,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, who was an MP and High Sheriff, and his wife Mary Gisborne. The Evans family had made a fortune from lead mines at Bonsall, and an iron slitting and rolling mill in

and a cotton mill at

Darley Abbey Darley Abbey is a former historic mill village, now a suburb of the city of Derby, England. It is located approximately north of the city centre, on the west bank of the River Derwent, and forms part of the Darley ward along with Little Che ...

.Derbyshire County Council
/ref> They also owned the Evans Bank in Derby. However it was Evans' uncle, Samuel Evans, who ran the business. His own father, William Evans, had opted to take up the life of the landed gentleman at

Allestree Hall Allestree Hall is a 19th-century former country house situated in Allestree Park, Allestree, Derby. It is a Grade II* listed building but has been unoccupied for many years, and has been placed on the Heritage at Risk Register. The Mundy fami ...

. Evans was educated at

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

. Evans' father died in 1856 leaving him property including Pickford's House in Derby.

Political career

Evans became

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Derbyshire South in 1857 and held the seat until 1868. He regained it in 1874 and held it until 1885. He stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Unionist candidate for

in 1886. He was a local philanthropist, being responsible for building a school in Parwich in 1861 and then rebuilding Parwich church in 1873. Evans continued to own the Evans Bank until it merged in 1877 with the older Derby-based Compton's Bank. Evans was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

of Allestree Hall on 18 July 1887. He chaired the first meeting of the Derbyshire County Council on 1 April 1889 when the authority consisted of 60 councillors and 20 aldermen. He was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

in 1872, and a Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace and

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

. As well as Allestree Hall, he owned the manor of Holbrooke, the Parwich Hall estate and a house in Derby.Pickford's House Museum
/ref>

Family

Evans married Mary Gisborne on 21 May 1846. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas John Gisborne of Holme Hall, Bakewell, Derbyshire. He was present when the Queen came to open the

Derbyshire Royal Infirmary The Derbyshire Royal Infirmary was a hospital in Derby that was managed by the Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Following the transfer of community services to the London Road Community Hospital located further south-east along Lo ...

as he was the President of the new hospital. On his death in Belper, in 1892, his baronetcy became extinct. He left his estate to

William Gisborne William Gisborne (13 August 1825 – 7 January 1898) was the first New Zealand Cabinet Secretary from 1864 to 1869, Colonial Secretary of New Zealand from 1869 to 1872, and Minister of Public Works between 1870 and 1871. The city of Gisborne in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, William 1821 births 1892 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People from Allestree Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society High Sheriffs of Derbyshire Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Unionist Party parliamentary candidates