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The family of Henry Evans (1784 - 1864)

This article has no connection to Malvern

General

One branch of the family can be traced back through the England census records to Henry Evans of Greenhill Lane who was born Overton, Ashover, Derbyshire about 1784 and died Alfreton, on 25th January 1864.

It is not known for certain who Henry's parents were but the IGI index suggests he may have been the youngest son of Isaac and Elizabeth Evans who had eight children.

There has been speculation that possibly Henry was distantly related to one of the two Evans families of Darley Abbey or George Evans(1726 - 1808) of Cromford an ancestor of Florence Nightingale, but we have found no evidence on the Internet. Do you have any clue to Henry's ancestors?

Henry's wife died before the England 1841 census, but from the burial records of St Martin's Church, Alfreton, she was probably Mary Wild who married 3rd January 1804 and was buried 3rd November 1825 age 42.

The IGI index suggests Henry may have had a brother Stephen who married Martha Wilde of Greenhill Lane in 1800 and it is possible that Mary and Martha were sisters. Stephen was employed as a colliery bailiff at Moira in Leicestershire, where the family lived at 'Greenhill Houses'.

Henry lived in the Greenhill Lane district of Alfreton in Derbyshire, which was one of a large number of colliery villages.

Nearby at Clay Cross coal was discovered about 1837 when a railway tunnel was driven through the hill, and the Clay Cross Company was formed.

From his will, it is apparent that Henry, aided by his children, became a well to do business man, probably through servicing the needs of the growing mining community. Henry was a maltster, who owned a butcher's shop and chandlery (selling candles), converted a house into The New Inn and started Luke Evans Bakery.

Children of Henry Evans

The children of Henry Evans and Mary Wild were,

Joseph (1804 - 1870) victualler, carpenter, builder and farmer

Henry (1808 - 1889), builder and farmer

Luke (1811 - 1888), grocer and chandler

Isaac (1816 - 1846) plumber

Richard (1821 - 1892) maltster and black sheep

Lydia Wild (1823 - 1886) wife of postmaster

Mary (1825 - 1903) wife of grocer

Marriages of Henry Evans' Children

Joseph Evans

Joseph married, bef 1841, Sarah and they had three children, Sarah, Joseph and Mary. Only Sarah survived to adulthood. She ran the New House Inn after her grandfather died and married John Shaw in 1872. Descendants emigrated to Australia.

Henry Evans

Henry married, 1853, at the Parish Church, Alfreton, Eliza Hoyland.

They had five children,

Edward, William, Matilda, Lydia and Joseph

Henry was buried 7th July 1889 at Riddings, Congregational Chapel

Luke Evans

Luke married, 1834, at Morton, Derbyshire, Elizabeth Greatorex.

They had nine children,

Mary, Henry, Joseph, Thomas, Luke, Elizabeth, Susan, Margaret and Richard.

Following Luke's death, the census suggests the family grocery business was carried on by Luke junior.

Isaac Evans

Little is known about Isaac, apart from he married Lydia and they had a daughter Elizabeth. The 1841 census lists a family at Ashby de la Zouch which could be them - that Isaac's occupation is recorded as a plumber.

Richard Evans

Richard had a child, Stephen, by the widow of his brother Isaac.

In 1863 Richard married Ann Rebecca Jennings, the daughter of haulage contractor, William Jennings. They had no children but adopted a daughter,

Martha Ann Ireland (Evans) known as Pattie born about 1878

The will of Henry Evan's suggests Richard was of an unreliable nature, and the census returns tend to confirm he was not a great achiever!

Lydia Wild Evans

Lydia married, 1849, Thomas Tomlinson Cutler, who worked as a clerk for her father Henry. Later Thomas became a postmaster in Alfreton as did their daughter Mary Evans Cutler.

Thomas may have been the son of farmer Thomas Cutler and unmarried Mary Tomlinson. Later Thomas Cutler married Elizabeth Robinson.

Lydia and Thomas had eight children,

Mary Evans, Henry Evans, Martha, Rose A, Emily J, Lydia, Margaret, and Thomas Tomlinson who became a bank manager.

Mary Evans

Mary married, 1851, at Fritchley Independent Chapel, grocer Joseph Robinson (1827 - 1898) son of Somercotes grocer Thomas Robinson. In 1853 the couple moved their business to Clay Cross, where they continued in business until Joseph's death in 1898.

They had nine children one of whom, Eliza, born 1865, died an infant.

Sarah (1852 - 1910) married 1883, chemist and druggist, Thomas Elliott of Whittington Moor

Henry Evans (1854 - 1942) was a music teacher. He moved to Southampton and married, 1889, Louisa Mary Horn daughter of shipping agent John Horn. The couple lived in Ordnance Road near the Ordnance Survey building. After Louisa's death and in old age Henry married Elizabeth Richards. Henry died at Brockenhurst in the New Forest in 1942.

Joseph (1856 - 1881) worked for his father as a grocer's assistant

Mary Evans (1858 - 1911) musician, married, 1894, engineer Francis George Wright

Thomas (1860 - 1911) an engineer, married, 1888, Sarah Elizabeth Knighton

Julia (b 1862) was still single and living with her widowed mother in Clay Cross at the time of the 1901 census.

Martha Lydia Evans known as Lillie (1866 - 1957) married, Manhattan NY, 1888, John Ferguson the son of a Blast Furnace Manager. The couple returned to England about 1896 and lived in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

Arthur Edgar Evans (1868 - 1951) emigrated to the USA where he married, Niagara NY,1895 Jessie E Hyde.

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