John Evans (archaeologist)

Sir John Evans
John Evans (archaeologist)
Born	17 November 1823 Burnham, Buckinghamshire
Died	31 May 1908 (1908-06-01) (aged 84) Berkhamsted
Nationality	English
Fields	Archaeology Geology
Influenced	Arthur Evans
Notable awards	Lyell Medal (1880)

Sir John Evans, KCB, FRS (17 November 1823 – 31 May 1908) was an English archaeologist and geologist.

Biography

John Evans was the son of the Rev. Dr A. B. Evans, headmaster of Market Bosworth Grammar School, and was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire. He was for many years manager of the extensive paper manufactory of his uncle, and later father-in-law, John Dickinson (1782–1869) at Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, but was distinguished especially as an antiquary, archaeologist and numismatist, that is, a collector of ancient objects and coins.

Evans was president from 1885 to 1892 of the Society of Antiquaries; and he was President of the Numismatic Society from 1874 to the time of his death. He was also president of the Geological Society of London, 1874–1876; the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1877–1879; the Society of Chemical Industry, 1891–1893; and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1897–1898. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1864 and for twenty years (1878–1898) he was treasurer of the Royal Society. He was appointed High Sheriff of Hertfordshire for 1881.^[1]

As President of the Society of Antiquaries he was an ex officio trustee of the British Museum, and subsequently he became a permanent trustee. His academic honors included honorary degrees from several universities, and he was a corresponding member of the Institut de France. He was created a KCB (Knight of the Order of the Bath) in 1892. Most of his very large personal archaeological collection was given to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford by his son Arthur. The Anglo-Saxon jewelled "Ixworth Cross" and "Tostock Buckle" are two of the outstanding objects.^[2] His library was left to the Bodleian Library.^[3] A collection of Iron Age antiquities Evans and Sir John Lubbock excavated at the site of Hallstatt in Austria is now in the British Museum's collection.^[4]^[5]

He lived at Britwell on Castle Hill in Berkhamsted^[6] where died in 1908.

Works

He was the author of three books, in their day standards in their field:

The Coins of the Ancient Britons (1864);
The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain (1872); and
The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland (1881).

He also wrote papers on archaeological and geological subjects, notably the papers on Flint Implements in the Drift communicated in 1860 and 1862 to Archæologia.

Family

John Evans

Evans was married three times, widowed twice, and had six children. His first wife was Harriet Ann Dickinson, daughter of John Dickinson, owner of the paper business, and Ann Dickinson, née Grover. They had five children:

Sir Arthur John Evans (1851–1941), curator of the Ashmolean Museum and excavator of Minoan Crete.
Lewis Evans (1853–1930), who continued the family business and collected scientific instruments that formed the core of the collection for the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.
(Philip) Norman Evans (1854–1893), became a chemist after working for the firm
Alice Evans (1856–1882), married William Minet, died relatively young
Harriet Ann Evans (1857–1938), married a Longman of the publishing family

Harriet died on 1 January 1858, and he married a cousin, Frances Phelps (1826–1890), the fourth daughter of Joseph Phelps and Elizabeth Phelps (née Dickinson). She died on 22 September 1890.

Then, on 9 July 1892, John married Maria Millington Lathbury (1856–1944) and they had a daughter Dame Joan Evans, a distinguished art historian of French and English medieval art. Her partly autobiographical book Time and Chance: The Story of Arthur Evans and His Forebears (1943) is an important source on her father.

Notes

↑ Sir John Evans: Learned Societies and Awards. University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 2009
↑ Sir John Evans's collections of artefacts – British. University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 2009.
↑ Evans's Book Collection. University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 2009.
↑ British Museum Collection
↑ British Museum Collection
↑ "The Mansion, Berkhamsted". British listed buildings. Retrieved 11 October 2015.

Publications

The ancient stone implements, weapons and ornaments, of Great Britain (1872)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Evans (archaeologist).

Ashmolean Museum, Sir John Evans Centenary Project
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Evans, Sir John". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

Works written by or about John Evans at Wikisource

Presidents of the Geological Society of London
19th century	George Bellas Greenough Henry Grey Bennet William Blake John MacCulloch George Bellas Greenough Earl Compton William Babington William Buckland John Bostock William Fitton Adam Sedgwick Roderick Murchison George Bellas Greenough Charles Lyell William Whewell William Buckland Roderick Murchison Henry Warburton Leonard Horner Henry De la Beche Charles Lyell William Hopkins Edward Forbes William Hamilton Daniel Sharpe Joseph Ellison Portlock John Phillips Leonard Horner Andrew Crombie Ramsay William Hamilton Warington Wilkinson Smyth Thomas Henry Huxley Joseph Prestwich George Douglas Campbell John Evans Peter Martin Duncan Henry Clifton Sorby Robert Etheridge John Whitaker Hulke Thomas Bonney John Wesley Judd William Blanford Archibald Geikie Wilfred Hudleston Henry Woodward Henry Hicks William Whitaker
20th century	Jethro Teall Charles Lapworth John Marr Archibald Geikie William Sollas William Watts Aubrey Strahan Arthur Smith Woodward Alfred Harker George Lamplugh Richard Oldham Albert Seward John Evans Francis Bather John Gregory Edmund Garwood Thomas Holland John Green Owen Thomas Jones Henry Hurd Swinnerton Percy Boswell Herbert Leader Hawkins William Fearnsides Arthur Trueman Herbert Harold Read Cecil Tilley Owen Thomas Jones George Lees William King Walter Campbell Smith Leonard Hawkes James Stubblefield Sydney Hollingworth Oliver Bulman Frederick Shotton Kingsley Dunham Thomas Neville George William Alexander Deer Thomas Westoll Percy Kent Wallace Pitcher Percival Allen Howel Francis Janet Watson Charles Holland Bernard Leake Derek Blundell Anthony Harris Charles Curtis R. S. J. Sparks Richard Hardman Robin Cocks
21st century	Ronald Oxburgh Mark Moody-Stuart Peter Styles Richard Fortey Lynne Frostick

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 2603515 LCCN: no94034328 ISNI: 0000 0001 1354 331X GND: 117515663 SUDOC: 133063232 BNF: cb12961283j (data) NLA: 36516723 IATH: w60g3h74

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