Thomas Evans (1739–1803) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

in 18th century London, one of two of the same name.Welsh Biography Online
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Career

Evans was born in Wales in 1739, and began his working life in London as a bookseller's porter with a William Johnston of

Ludgate Street Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a prison, gaol attached to it – in 1760. The area ...

. He went on to become the publisher of the

Morning Chronicle ''The Morning Chronicle'' was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London. It was notable for having been the first steady employer of essayist William Hazlitt as a political reporter and the first steady employer of Charles Dickens as a journalist. It ...

and the

London Packet London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

as well as taking over the bookselling business of Messrs. Hawes, Clarke, & Collins, based at no. 32

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row was a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area cal ...

Goldsmith case

In 1773, nine days after the first performance of the play '

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

', the London Packet published an article about the play's author,

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

, and a Miss Horneck, the so-called "Jessamy bride". Holding Evans responsible for the article, Goldsmith attacked him in the Paternoster Row shop. Goldsmith was charged with assault, and ordered to pay £50 to a Welsh charity.

Family and personal life

Evans was separated from his wife, partly over disagreement over their only son. The latter married in 1790, but deserted his family and went to America, later returning to die in poverty eighteen months before his father. Evans died on 2 July 1803 at his lodgings in Chapter House Court, at the age of sixty-four, after a short illness. He left the bulk of his large fortune to an old friend, Christopher Brown, formerly assistant to Mr. Longman of Paternoster Row, and father of the Thomas Brown who afterwards became a member of the famous firm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Thomas 1739 births 1803 deaths Welsh booksellers 18th-century Welsh businesspeople 19th-century Welsh businesspeople