Evans, T. J. (Thomas John), 1863-1932

Person

Evans, T. J. (Thomas John), 1863-1932

Thomas John Evans was born in the parish of Cellan, Cardiganshire, on 2 December 1863, the son of Evan and Jane Evans. He taught for a brief period at Cellan school before departing for London to work as a clerk in 1882. For the next fifty years he was closely associated with the Welsh life of the metropolis, and proved an assiduous patron of a great range of literary societies associated with the Welsh churches in London, and played a prominent role in the establishment of a number of social clubs and societies for London Welshmen. In 1895 T. J. Evans was the founder of The London Kelt, a bilingual weekly newspaper, and he was mainly responsible for editing it until it was forced to cease publication in 1915 by the acute paper shortage of the First World War. He became the friend and close associate of an array of prominent Welshmen of his generation, among them Thomas Edward Ellis, David Lloyd George, Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith and W. Llewelyn Williams. He accumulated an impressive library of Welsh books and books relating to Wales, and became a highly respected authority on London Welsh societies and settlements. He also served on the Council of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. Evans formed a large number of intimate and enduring friendships, and became renowned for his untiring readiness to assist young Welsh people at London. He had married in 1891, Margaret, the daughter of Lewis Davies of Lampeter and they had two daughters. T. J. Evans died on 13 May 1932.