Reverend John Gwenogvryn Evans (20 March 1852

1852 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1852 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales — The Prince Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales — vacant-Events:...

 – 25 March 1930

1930 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1930 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Edward, Prince of Wales, son of King George V of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales - vacant...

) was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 palaeographic

Palaeography

Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...

 expert.

Evans was born at Llanybydder

Llanybydder

Llanybydder is a market town straddling the River Teifi in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, West Wales, with a population of 1,423, almost three quarters of whom are Welsh-speaking according to the United Kingdom Census 2001. The nearest university is the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David,...

 in Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

. He was apprenticed to a grocer, but returned to school, one of his teachers being William Thomas (Gwilym Marles)

William Thomas (Gwilym Marles)

William Thomas , better known by his bardic name of Gwilym Marles, was a Welsh minister and poet, and the great-uncle of Dylan Thomas. Dylan was given his middle name, "Marlais", in honour of William Thomas, who is also believed to have inspired the character of Rev...

. He studied theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and became a Unitarian minister, but gave up his pastorate because of ill-health. He began to take an interest in ancient Welsh manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

s, and set up his own printing press

Printing press

A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...

 in order to create facsimile

Facsimile

A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...

s of major Welsh medieval manuscripts, such as the books of Aneirin

Aneirin

Aneirin or Neirin was a Dark Age Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland...

 and Taliesin

Taliesin

Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...

. In 1880 he moved to Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, where he spent most of the rest of his life. From 1894 to 1920, Evans was employed by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, producing a major Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language. In 1905 he facilitated the purchase of the Peniarth manuscript collection from Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet Williams

Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet Williams of the City of London

Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet, GCVO , was a Welsh physician, who attended Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and was raised to the baronetcy by her in 1894. He is remembered chiefly for his contribution to the collection of the National Library of Wales...

. Since 1909, these have been lodged in the National Library of Wales

National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...

 at Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

. Evans retired to Llanbedrog

Llanbedrog

Llanbedrog is a village and community on the Llŷn peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales. It is situated on the south side of the peninsula on the A499 between Pwllheli and Abersoch. Formerly in the county of Caernarfonshire, it has a population of 1,020....

in Caernarfonshire, where he ran his own printing press as a hobby. He and his wife Edith are both buried there.

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