Sebastian Evans (1830-1909). Courtesy Victorian Artists.
Sebastian Evans (2 March 1830 - 19 December 1909) was an English poet and journalist.[1]
Life[]
Evans was born at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, the youngest son of Arthur Benoni Evans by his wife Anne, daughter of Captain Thomas Dickinson, R.N. In youth he showed promise as an artist and an aptitude for Latin and English verse.[1]
After early education under his father at the free grammar school of Market Bosworth, he won in 1849 a scholarship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he earned a B.A. in 1853 and an M.A. in 1857. While an undergraduate he published a volume of sonnets on the death of the duke of Wellington, 1852.[1]
On leaving the university he became a student at Lincoln's Inn on 29 Jan. 1855, but was shortly appointed secretary of the Indian Reform Association, and in that capacity was the first man in England to receive news of the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny.[1]
In 1857 he married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Francis Bennett Goldney, one of the founders of the London Joint Stock Bank. The couple had 2 sons, Sebastian and Francis; the latter assumed the name of Francis Bennett Goldney, and was returned to parliament as independent unionist member for Canterbury in December 1909, after serving several times as mayor of the town.[1]
In 1857 Sebastian Evans resigned the secretaryship and turned his talent for drawing to practical use by becoming manager of the art department of the glass-works of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., at Oldbury, near Birmingham. This position he occupied for 10 years, and designed many windows, including one illustrating the Robin Hood legend for the International Exhibition in 1862.[1]
Meanwhile he took a growing interest in politics as an ardent conservative. His work for the Indian Reform Association had brought him into touch with John Bright, and at Birmingham he made the acquaintance of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, with whom, in spite of their political differences, he contracted a lasting friendship.[1]
In 1867 Evans left ths glassworks to become editor of the Birmingham Daily Gazette, a conservative newspaper. In 1868 he unsuccessfully contested Birmingham in the conservative interest and also helped to form the National Union of Conservative Associations. In the same year he took the degree of LL.D. at Cambridge.[1]
In 1870 he left the Gazette to pursue an early design of a legal career. On 17 Nov. 1873 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and joined the Oxford circuit. He quickly acquired a fair practice, but found time for both political and journalistic activity, writing leading articles for the Observer and contributing articles and stories, chiefly of a mystical tenour, to Macmillan's and Longman's magazines. In 1878 he shared in the foundation of the 'People,' a weekly conservative newspaper, and edited it for the first 3 years of its career. When on the eve of the general election of 1886 the editor of the Birmingham Daily Gazette died suddenly, Evans hurriedly resumed the editorship over the critical period.[1]
Evans continued to cultivate art and poetry amid all competing interests. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere pictures in oil, water-colour, and black and white, and practised wood-carving, engraving, and book-binding. As a poet, he combined a feeling for medieval beauty with a humour which distinguishes him from the Pre-Raphaelites.[1]
He was an excellent translator in verse and prose from medieval French, Latin, Greek, and Italian. In 1898 he published The High History of the Holy Graal (new edit. 1910 in 'Everyman's Library'), a masterly version of the old French romance of 'Perceval le Gallois,' as well as an original study of the legend entitled In Quest of the Holy Graal. He also translated St. Francis of Assisi's Mirror of Perfection (1898) and Geoffrey of Monmouth's History (1904), and with his son, Mr. Goldney, Lady Chillingham's House Party, adapted from Pailleron's Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie (1901). In 1881 he re-edited his father's Leicestershire Words for the English Dialect Society.[1]
Evans's versatility and social charm brought him a varied acquaintance. He knew Thackeray, Darwin, Huxley, Newman, Matthew Arnold, and Ruskin, and at a later period was the intimate friend of Edward Burne-Jones, who shared his interests in medieval legend and illustrated his history of the Graal.[1]
Towards the end of his life he retired to Abbot's Barton, Canterbury, where he died.[1]
Writing[]
Evans's published collections of poems, apart from those already mentioned, were: 'Brother Fabian's Manuscripts and other Poems,' 1865. 'Songs and Etchings,' 1871. 'In the Studio, a Decade of Poems,' 1875.[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Sonnets on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. Cambridge, UK: Macmillan, 1852.
- Rhymes Read in the Queens Drawing Room at Aston Hall, Jan. 25, 1859: In memory of the birth of Robert Burns, Jan. 25, 1759. Birmingham, UK: Cornish Bros., 1859.
- To the Nemory of William Makepeace Thackeray, Dec. 24, 1863. Birmingham, UK: W.J. Sackett, 1864.
- Brother Fabian's Manuscripts, and other poems. London: Macmillan, 1865.
- In the Studio: A decade of poems. London: Macmillan, 1875.
Non-fiction[]
- In Quest of the Holy Grail: An introduction to the study of the legend. London: Dent, 1898.
- Handbook to Dover. Dover, UK: British Association, 1899.
Art[]
- Church Windows: A series of designs, original or selected from ancient examples. Birmingham, UK: Chance Bros. Glass Works, 1862.
Translated[]
- Francis of Assissi, The Mirror of Perfection. London: D. Nutt, 1900.
- Edouard Jules Henri Pailleron, Lady Chillingham's House-party; or, Margery's romance: An English version of 'Le monde où l'on s'ennuie' (translated with Francis Bennet Goldney). London: Dent, 1901.
- The High History of the Holy Grael. London: Dent, 1902. Volume I, Volume II
- also published as The High History of the Holy Grail. Cambridge, UK: J. Clarke, 1986.
- Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of England. London: Dent, 1903.
Edited[]
- Arthur Benoni Evans, Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs. London: Trübner, for the English Dialect Society, 1881.
Anthologized[]
- "Shadows", in Songs and Etchings: Seven poems by Ben Jonson, T. Hood, P.B. Shelley, C. Kingsley, S. Evans, and H.W. Longfellow (illustated by R.S. Chattock). London: Shelley, Jackson, & Halliday, 1871.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[2]
See also[]
References[]
Bickley, Francis (1912). "Evans, Sebastian". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. London: Smith, Elder. p. 637.. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 8, 2017.
Notes[]
External links[]
- Poems
- "A Dirge for Summer"
- Sebastian Evans at PoemHunter ("Shadows")
- Evans in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "A Dirge for Summer," "What the Trumpeter Said"
- Books
- Sebastian Evans at Amazon.com
- About
- Sebastian Evans at Victorian Artists
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Dictionary of National Biography, 2nd supplement (edited by Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1912. Original article is at: Evans, Sebastian
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