Sir (Thomas) William Evans, 1st Baronet (15 April 1821 – 4 October 1892) was an English Liberal politician who represented the constituency of

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne, Derbyshire, Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Derbys ...

Background and education

Evans was the son of William Evans of

Allestree Allestree is a suburb and Ward (politics), ward of the city of Derby, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, in Derbyshire, England. It is the northernmost ward and is on the A6 road (Great Britain), A6 road, about north of ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, 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, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. It is located approximately north of the city centre, on the west bank of the River Derwent, and forms part ...

.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. Evans was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

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

Political career

Evans became Member of Parliament 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 14th ...

of Allestree Hall on 18 July 1887. He chaired the first meeting of the

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is ba ...

on 1 April 1889 when the authority consisted of 60 councillors and 20 aldermen. He was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

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

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. 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 opened in 1810. It was managed by the Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Following the transfer of community services to the London Road Community Hospital located further ...

as he was the President of the new hospital. On his death in

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...

, 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 Members of Derbyshire County Council 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