Arthur Wade Wade-Evans (born Arthur Wade Evans) (31 August 1875 – 4 January 1964) was a Welsh clergyman and historian.
Biography
Evans was born in
Fishguard,
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
, in south Wales on 31 August 1875 and did not include his mother's maiden name in his surname until 1899, when he was 24 years old. His father, Titus Evans, was a master mariner. Evans was educated at
Haverfordwest Grammar school. In 1893, he
matriculated at
Jesus College, Oxford, graduating in 1896. He was ordained deacon in
St Paul's Cathedral in 1898 and then served as
curate in various parishes, including
Ealing, Cardiff, and
English and
Welsh Bicknor. In 1909, he was appointed
vicar of
France Lynch, where he remained until 1926. He campaigned for the
disestablishment of the
Church in Wales. He was, from 1926 to 1932, vicar of
Potterspury with
Furtho and
Yardley Gobion (1926–32), before his final appointment as
rector of
Wrabness from 1932 to 1957. He then retired to
Frinton-on-Sea,
Essex. He died on 4 January 1964.
He was a historian of early Britain, the Celtic church and
Welsh law, although some of his theories were unorthodox. He translated and studied many early historical sources, with his publications including ''
Nennius's "History of the Britons"'' (1938) ''Coll Prydain'' (1950) and ''The Emergence of England and Wales'' (1956, 1959). Church history publications included journal articles on the lives of the saints and on church plate, ''Parochiale Wallicanum'' (1911), an analysis and translation of the Latin text of the ''Life of
St David'' (1923), and ''Welsh Christian Origins'' (1934). He also edited ''Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae'', an invaluable edition of Welsh saints' lives, mostly from the British Library Manuscript Vespasian A.xiv. He was also a contributor to many journals and newspapers. In 1909, he published ''Welsh Medieval Law'', a translation of Llyfr Cyfnerth; he later wrote an article on Welsh law for the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade-Evans, Arthur
1875 births
1964 deaths
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
20th-century Welsh Anglican priests
20th-century Welsh historians
People from Fishguard
People from Tendring (district)
People from Chalford